Misplaced Affections
by kittensandcombatboots
Summary: AU. Bella, Jasper, and Rosalie's lives all become much more complicated after the Cullen family moves to Forks and shakes up their lives. All Human.
1. Chapter 1

It's been awhile since I've written--not because I don't love you all, but because I didn't want to write you all anything that I didn't think would be good. I'm still not sure this is great, but I'll let you be the judge.

Disclaimer:Twilight does not belong to me. Darn it.

"Rose, my truck is acting funny again," I whined into the phone the second she answered.

"I swear, Bella. Why can't you just get a vehicle that was made in the last twenty or so years?" Rose asked. I rolled my eyes. She always had to have a little commentary when I asked for help. It's not my truck's fault that he is old and falling apart.

"Please, Rose, just help me. Charlie looks like he is about to suggest him taking me to school in the cruiser. Do you remember what happened freshman year? It was a nightmare then and it will be even worse now." She laughed softly.

"Tell him that I am on my way and that he doesn't need to wait around."

"Oh, thank you. You, Rosalie Hale, are a life saver," I exclaimed.

"See you in a few, Bella."

I told Charlie, my dad, that he didn't need to wait around, that I would get to my first day of junior year whether he waited for Rosalie to come or not. Still, he waited. It was an awkward silence until finally three minutes and twenty-two seconds after I hung up the phone, Rose arrived.

Rosalie stepped out of her beautiful, shiny BMW. Her curly blonde hair seemed to blow in the wind as she walked. She flashed me a smile and opened up the hood of my truck.

Rose pushed up the sleeves of her name brand beige blouse and fiddled around or something. She performed the magic that she always does that makes my ancient truck start. I climbed into the cabin and it started right up—no clanging or sputtering.

I jumped out of my truck as Rose closed the hood. She smoothed out her clothes and smiled at me. Unable to contain myself anymore, I wrapped my arms around her.

"You are so my hero. I owe you my life."

"Yeah, yeah. You say that all the time. Why can't you just owe me an English book report or something? I can't really do anything with your life, except maybe murder you or make you my slave." Then, she gave an evil laugh. We laughed hysterically. It was always funny to me that someone as beautiful as a supermodel could have such a weird sense of humor.

Charlie cleared his throat. "Thank you, Rosalie, for all your help. Have a good day at school girls."

We all left the house then, Rose and I headed towards Forks High School and Charlie in the opposite direction for the police station. On the way to school it started to rain. It always rains. I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, the first day of school it wouldn't rain. God must have not gotten that prayer.

I parked my truck between Rose's BMW and Rosalie's twin brother's Audi. Jasper was leaning against the driver's side door. His blonde hair was messy and in his eyes. If I didn't know any better, I would have assumed that he hadn't touched it since he woke up. Jasper, however, took longer to perfect his charmingly disheveled hair than it took Rose to do her hair.

"What took you guys so long?" Jasper asked as soon as I opened my door.

"Sorry, my fault. Rose had to stop by and work her voodoo on my truck."

"What was wrong with it?" he asked me. I raised my eyebrows at him. Jasper laughed. "Sorry. Rose?"

"It was just a loose battery cable, nothing serious. Bella, for my sake and yours, let me buy you a new car for your birthday," Rosalie said, a firm look in her eyes. She was so stubborn.

"No. I will not let you buy me a car. Are you kidding me?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Please?" she begged.

"Absolutely not. That is completely insane. How could I even accept that—a new car?"

"With a smile on your face and love in your heart," she said with a wide grin. I sighed.

"Can we talk about something else. Please?" Rose flipped her hair.

"Fine." She pursed her lips together. "Did you hear about the new kids?"

"No. How did you?"

Jasper laughed. "She's a cheerleader. She knows all."

"Ha ha," Rose said, "But it's true. Katelyn told me that Jessica told her about Angela's mom that works at the hospital and how there is this wicked hot doctor with three teenagers, even though he is only like thirty or something. Like he adopted them, I think. Anyways, there is a boy who is a senior, and then a girl and another boy that are juniors. I've heard that the girl is tiny and we could use a new flyer, because Lauren has definitely gained weight this summer."

I turned to look at Jasper. He was smiling. I tried unsuccessfully to hold back my laughter.

"She said it all in one breath. My gosh, Rose. You must have incredible lungs," I joked.

"That's what the boys tell me," Rosalie said as she flipped her hair.

Jasper covered his ears and started to walk away from us. "So did not need to hear that ever."

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Y'all know the drill. Review. Show me some love or some hate. Either way.


	2. Chapter 2

If you have ever read anything else that I've written, then you know how quickly I like to update. If not, then it is a special treat. Chapter 2.

Disclaimer: Still not mine. Darn Stephanie Meyer refusing to give me Twilight.

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Jasper, Rosalie, and I parted ways. They had auto shop. Rosalie kicked ass at auto shop. She was the only girl in the class, but held the highest grade. I'm not sure if she was that much better than everyone or if she just distracted all the boys by being herself. Probably a little of both.

I had Home Ec. Mrs. Cane, the school counselor, would never learn. I had tried to take Home Ec freshman year, but I got kicked out of the class after sewing my sleeve to my quilt eight times in a row. Mrs. Gershwin thought I was doing it on purpose.

I walked into the Home Ec room and all the other students parted. Forks was a small school and everyone had already been informed of my less than stellar Home Ec record. At least I hadn't set anything on fire.

Mrs. Gershwin called the class to order and told us to pick our partners. She expected us to make chocolate cookies on the first day. The first day of school was supposed to be a blow off day. I sighed and watched as all the other kids paired up. I was left alone.

Then, a short girl with spiky black hair skipped into the room. She handed a note to the teacher. Mrs. Gershwin nodded and looked at me. Her eyes were tense. Yep, she most definitely still thought that I was a trouble maker. It's not my fault that I suck at sewing. Wasn't it her job to make me better?

"Ms. Swan, you will be Ms. Cullen's partner. Please, do behave yourself. Alice is new." I smiled as wide as possible, so much so that it hurt my face.

"I promise, ma'am, to be on my very best behavior and be a shining example of Forks High to our newest student." Mrs. Gershwin looked like she wanted to slap me. At least she did until the new girl—Alice, I think her name was, started to laugh. Then, Mrs. G turned her glare to Alice, who instantly stopped laughing and cleared her throat.

"Get to work," she said and then went to observe the rest of the students.

As soon as she was gone, I started laughing again. Alice was smiling. I pulled on my apron and tied it behind my back.

"She seems pleasant," Alice said, still smiling.

"Just wait. She'll probably hate you just because you are my baking partner. She really dislikes me."

"What did you do to her? Did you burn down the classroom?" Alice tied her apron on, while I started pouring random ingredients into a nixing bowl.

"You would think so by the amount of hate that she possesses for me, but no. It was just a little mishap with a sewing machine. I'm Bella, by the way."

"Alice," she said, before looking into the bowl. "What are you doing? Half those things aren't even on the recipe."

"It will taste better this way. Trust me." She raised her eyebrows.

"Okay."

We mixed our interesting concoction and placed it in small balls on the cookie sheet. Luckily, because of her intense hatred for me, Mrs. Gershwin steered clear of us making it easy for us to put whatever we wanted into our cookies. I added peanut butter and Alice put in some pecans.

While we waited for our cookies to finish baking, Alice and I talked. She told me about her dad, who was a doctor—Rose's gossip had gotten that right, and her brothers. Alice had an older brother named Emmett and a younger brother—by two minutes—named Edward. Carlisle and Esme, her parents, had adopted them when she and Edward were six.

The bell rang and our cookies still weren't done. I told Alice to go ahead. She was new and I was used to being tardy. A minute after she left, I pulled the cookies out. They smelled fantastic. I threw them in a little plastic bowl—I was going to bring it back, so it wasn't technically stealing—and quickly washed off the cookie sheet.

I ran into my next class with my backpack in one hand and the bowl of cookies in the other. Mr. Banner looked at me and shook his head. I just smiled, looking for an open seat. There was one next to this kid who had his head down on the desk, so I sat there.

In fact, it didn't look like a bad idea. I put my head on my desk too. The scent of the cookies made me momentarily lift my head up, so that I could stick one in my mouth.

"Ms. Swan, please put your head up," Mr. Banner said. I scoffed and lifted my head.

"That was kind of sexist. You make me lift my head up, but you don't make him." I glared at Mr. Banner. He was actually one of the few good teachers at this school, but I didn't like being treated unfairly.

"He is a new student who isn't well aware of the rules. You on the other hand have been reprimanded numerous times in the past." I hate it when people use logic against you.

"Fine," I pouted. Mr. Banner rolled his eyes at me.

"Mr. Cullen, for the sake of fairness, will you please lift your head." The kid lifted his head, but I couldn't see his face because of his black hoodie. All I knew was that this was one of Alice's brothers. "Hood off too," Banner added.

He pulled off his hood to reveal striking bronze hair. He had attractive features and flawless pale skin. He also had iPod headphones in.

I bit my lip. He was such a trouble maker. And the teachers thought that I was bad.

"Mr. Cullen, the headphones out, please." The kid sighed deeply. He took out the ear buds and I watched as he turned his iPod off. "Thank you very much, Edward."

So his name was Edward. That made him Alice's twin. They didn't really look all that alike to me, but Rosalie and Jasper didn't really look alike to me either.

I think he caught me staring, because he turned to look at me. His profile was attractive, but when he looked straight at me, my breath caught. He was beautiful and his green eyes, darker and more intense than Alice's, scared me a little.

Then, he wasn't looking at me anymore. I glued my eyes to Banner, hoping that he would entertain me enough to keep from eye-groping the new boy. He didn't and I caught myself ogling Edward twice more before the bell rang.

I let out a deep breath. This was going to be a long year.

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Here is the part where I beg for reviews.


	3. Chapter 3

The next chapter for you, my lovelies. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to the lovely Stephanie Meyer. And that is not me.

APOV

I was standing in front of my locker, putting my newly acquired chemistry book away. It was finally time for lunch, time to meet up with Edward and Emmett. I was hungry and my stomach was growling. Bella had yet to bring me any of our wonderfully delicious—I hoped—cookies that we made in Home Ec.

As I stood there, I became aware of someone standing behind me. Sighing, I slowly turned around, shutting my locker behind me. A tall, blonde-haired girl stood. She had a cheerful smile.

"You're Alice Cullen, right?" she asked. I raised my eyebrows. "It's a small town," she said in response.

"Yeah. You're Rosalie Hale, aren't you?" She smiled even wider.

"How'd you know?"

"It's a small town," I repeated her phrase back at her.

"Okay. Then I guess you know that I am looking for a new cheerleader to replace one who has failed to keep up her end of the cheerleading contract." I stifled a laugh.

"There is a cheerleading contract?"

"Yeah," she replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What does it say?" I replied, still laughing inside.

"Not the point. The point is do you want the spot?"

"I'm not really the cheerleading type."

Rosalie shifted to the side. She flipped a blonde curl behind her ear. It fell back in front of her face, so she pushed it back again.

"Neither am I, not really." I stared at her in disbelief.

"You are head cheerleader."

"Please," she scoffed. "Those girls need someone to whip them into shape. It's not my fault that I happen to be a natural-born leader."

I made a face at her. She laughed at my expression. Rosalie slouched a little, finally relaxing from her perfect cheerleader posture.

"Will you at least think about it?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'll think about it."

"Okay. Now you have to come have lunch with me and Bella." I recognized that name.

"Bella Swan?" Rosalie smiled.

"You know Bella?" she asked. Then, her eyes narrowed. "You didn't have Home Ec with her, did you?"

I nodded. "Yeah. We are baking partners. It went fine. I don't know why everyone is so afraid of her."

"You have to come have lunch with us," Rosalie commanded. I frowned.

"I can't. I promised my brothers that I would have lunch with them." Rosalie's eyebrows went up.

"Brothers? I have one too. They can eat with us."

"Maybe tomorrow."

"Definitely tomorrow. I'll hold you to that. Bye Alice," she said as she turned, her hair flipping in the process.

"Bye Rosalie."

I skipped down the hall to Edward's locker. He was leaning against it, looking miserable. Apparently Forks girls liked the pouty look, because every female that passed him was staring. It was unnerving. I grabbed his arm and pulled him along with me.

JPOV

Calculus was the devil. I had only been in the class twelve minutes, but I knew it to be true. My eyes glazed over briefly as Mrs. Eastly went over the syllabus.

I felt someone bump my arm. It was that new kid—though no one would call him "kid"—Emmett. He was huge. The guy had muscles where I didn't even know you could have muscles. That was probably a side effect of sleeping through anatomy last semester.

"If I have to stay awake through this than so do you," he said to me.

"Oh, please, have mercy on me. Kill me now."

He laughed quietly. "Stab you through the heart with a pencil?"

"Sounds pleasant. Exponentially better than calculus."

"I have no idea how I'm going to pass this class. I suck at math," Emmett said. We had that it common.

"Me too. Lucky for me I have a good tutor. She is amazing at math and everything really." He smiled.

"Can I have a good tutor too?" I hit him in the arm.

"No way, man. It's my sister." He laughed.

"So…I assume you guys aren't dating. Is she hot?"

"Shut up," I said, glaring at him.

"I'm joking, man. But really, do you think she'd be willing to help me get a C? I need to be passing so that I can play."

"Football?" I asked. He had to be a football player. Or one of those guys that pulls boats.

"Yeah." I sighed. Rose's type. She loved athletes. And musicians. And artists. Guys. Rose loved guys.

"I'll talk to my sister and see what I can do. Don't get your hopes up, though, she's really busy."

He nodded. "I appreciate it."

"You should come sit with us at lunch. It will be much harder for her to resist if you are present." I grimaced.

"I can't. I promised my sister and brother that I would sit with them on our first day."

"They can sit with us. It's no problem. Plus, I think Rose wants to talk to your sister anyways." Rose said that, didn't she?

"I would, but Edward isn't adjusting really well. He's being really moody."

"Where did you guys move from?"

"Chicago," Emmett said with a smile on his face. "He loved Chicago. He threatened Carlisle, our dad, saying that he was going to legally emancipate himself if he had to move here."

"Did he?" I raised my eyebrows.

"No. He loves Carlisle and Esme too much to do that. Plus, he can't live without Alice. They're twins."

Twins? More twins? That meant that the Hales are no longer the only freaks in Forks.

"My sister and I are twins too."

"Wicked. So how am I supposed to convince this sister of yours to tutor me?" I snorted.

"You are a guy. That will probably be enough." He rolled his eyes.

"Details, man. I need details."

"No. You're not allowed to date her." He grinned.

"You don't get to make that decision."

"I'm being serious." Emmett sighed.

"Fine. I won't date your sister if you won't date mine."

"Agreed."

If Rosalie wanted Emmett's sister to be a cheerleader then there was no way that she was my type. I need a girl with a little bit more on her mind than split ends and who won the big game. No. This would be cake. Emmett would get tutoring, but not date Rose. I liked him too much to let that happen.

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Tell me what you think. Any comments or criticism are appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

Another treat.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Not mine.

RPOV

"I heard that you met Alice," I said, setting my tray down on the table. Bella and Jasper both looked up at me.

"No," my brother replied.

"Not you, Honey." I ruffled his hair, causing him to hiss at me. Jasper slapped my hand ."Bella?"

She finished chewing her bite of apple before replying."Yeah. She's awesome. She's in my Home Ec class." I smiled. Perfect.

"I need you to do me a favor," I said in my sweetest possible voice. Bella was already shaking her head.

"No. No." It was cute. She was trying to be firm with me. Bella could be stubborn, but I was miles ahead in tenacity. I would win.

"Bella, please. I do you favors all the time. Just this morning, for instance."

She was glaring at me. This was a good sign. She saw that I had a point. I speared a piece of lettuce with my fork and began eating. It was better to not bring it up again for awhile and just let it dwell with her.

"Speaking of favors…" Jasper trailed off. I turned to look at him.

"Yes, my favorite of brothers, what do you need?" He smirked.

"I'm your only brother. And you know how I'm taking calculus this year?" I nodded. I had already agreed to help him. Math just wasn't his strong suit. He helped me with English and I helped him with math and science. That's just the way it worked.

"Yeah," I said warily, raising my eyebrows.

"Is there any way that you can help one of my friends in calculus? If you don't have time or whatever, that's cool. I just told him I'd ask." I rolled my eyes.

"Which one of your emo friends am I supposed to help?" He hated it when I called his friends emo almost as much as I hated it when he called me a dumb cheerleader.

He sighed angrily, but didn't say anything about my "emo" comment. "Actually, he is a Cullen and he needs to stay passing so that he can play football."

A football player. Yum. I turned to look across the room at the small round table that Alice was sitting at. Only one of her brothers was there, but, from what I could tell, he was gorgeous.

"Is that him?" I asked Jasper.

"No. That must be the other one."

Bella mummbled something quietly. I turned to her. She had a small blush on her cheeks.

"What was that?"

"The other one. His name is Edward. Emmett is the one Jasper is talking about." I blinked. Then, I turned to my brother to confirm the information.

"Yeah, Emmett is who I'm talking about. He's massive."

I sighed. The truth is that I didn't really have a lot of time. This semester I had the hardest schedule I had ever had even though it was senior year. And the squad was in awful shape. I was going to have to cut Lauren. She was a total bitch and she missed twelve practices over the summer.

But if tutoring Emmett meant that I could get to know Alice better and possibly convince her to become a cheerleader, then it might be worth it. Not to meantion this Edward. He was pretty and tutoring his dumb brother might be worth my while.

"I'll think about it."

EmPoV

As I walked towards the table where Alice and Edward were sitting, I noticed a girl standing next to Al. She had cookies. I liked her already.

The girl had brown hair. She was smiling and it lit up her entire face. She was nice looking. I thought that she must be Jasper's sister. He had said that she wanted to talk to Alice.

I found myself kind of sad that I couldn't date her. She seemed nice. At least I wouldn't fail calculus.

"Hey. Are you Jasper's sister? The one who rocks at everything?" I asked, trying to compliment her.

She frowned. Uh-oh. What did I say?

"No, Em. This is Bella," Alice said.

"Yeah, I don't rock at everything. I don't really rock at anything, really," the girl, Bella, said.

"Oh, please, Bella. That's not true. You make killer cookies," Alice replied.

"We both made the cookies." I sat down and watched the girls talk back and forth.

"You are incredible at making teachers hate you." Bella laughed. It was like music.

"True story. It is a gift." Alice laughed.

"What else are you good at?" I asked. Bella looked like she was considering the question.

"Staring," Edward muttered, but we all heard.

I glanced quickly at Bella. Her face was bright red. She cleared her throat.

"Umm…I'm going to go finish my lunch."

Bella turned quickly around and walked back to a table. I saw Jasper and another girl at the table. She had blonde hair. I assumed that the blonde girl was his sister, but I had been wrong before.

I turned to hit Edward. He was an idiot. He had made the pretty, funny girl leave. He glared at me murderously.

"What was that?" I asked. "You are never going to make friends by being rude. And especially to nice girls."

"I don't want to make friends in this pathetic little town. I'm going back to Chicago at Christmas break. Plus, she was staring at me like I was some sort of freak show." Edward crossed his arms.

"Maybe she thought that you were a sexy beast," I said. He growled at me.

"Bella is really nice. I love her. She's so much fun," Alice said.

"Whatever," Edward replied. That is all he said the rest of lunch.

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Reviews are love.


	5. Chapter 5

It's a little shoter than the other chapters, but I'm hoping that you will give me a break because this is my third update today. There have been a lot of people freaking out over whether or not all the relationships will be canon (ExB, JxA, EmxR). They will be. I'm just going to have a little fun getting there. I'm asking you all to trust me. I wouldn't intentionally do anything bad to you or any of the characters.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight…yet.

BPOV

I got to Home Ec early the next morning so that I could wash out the bowl that I borrowed and replace it. Mrs. G, however, was already in the classroom, so I couldn't go complete my mission. Darn teachers being early for class.

Alice got there a few minutes before the bell rang, so we started talking. We continued talking even as Mrs. G went over the instructions for class and as we were baking. When Teach wasn't looking, I quickly rinsed out the cookie bowl and put it back on the shelf.

"So…you met my brothers. What did you think?" Alice asked. I blushed; I couldn't help it.

"Umm…I don't know. Emmett seemed nice. And he was cute. He has huge muscles."

Alice laughed. "Yeah. But he's really a softy." A softy?

"What do you mean?" Alice smiled. She seemed to be recalling old memories.

"He can be really sweet. I make him watch chick flicks with me when I get upset. He loves The Notebook. Edward will never watch them with me." She pressed her lips together.

"I don't like Edward," I said. It was true. I didn't like him. He was mean and angry and stupid.

"Is this because of his comment at lunch yesterday? Because you really shouldn't…he's just not doing very well right now. It's nothing against you." She was trying to defend him. I got that. If someone had said they didn't like Jasper or Rose I would stand up for them. They were like family to me. But I really didn't like Edward.

"It's not about that. Mostly. He's gorgeous. I mean, he is absolutely breath-taking. He is just way too emo for me." She smiled, barely.

"Give him time. He'll come around."

"Hopefully not around me," I muttered. Alice's jaw fell open.

"Oh my gosh. I'd be angry and slightly offended if that wasn't so funny." I laughed once.

"I'm sorry. I realize that I'm being mean. I'll try to be nicer." She raised an eyebrow at me. "I promise."

When the bell rang, I knew that it was time for class with Edward. I vowed that I wouldn't say anything mean or abrasive to him. But even more than that, I promised to not stare at him.

By the time I made it to class, he was already there. I took my seat next to him. Edward was wearing a hoodie again and I could tell that he had his iPod on.

Very softly, he started to hum. I felt myself leaning towards him trying to figure out the song. It wasn't looking at him, but I felt like I was.

The song sounded familiar. I could have sworn that I heard it before. When I finally figured out what it was, I couldn't stop myself from turning to look at him. It only took Edward a second to realize I was staring.

"There you go again," he said, "Staring."

"Yeah. It's like a gift. Do you realize that you are humming out loud?" He moved his head back and forth.

"Yes. It's one of my gifts," he said with a smile. It angered me that I noticed how good he looked when he actually smiled.

"Annoying me is a gift?" I asked.

"Apparently," he replied, eyebrows raised as he leaned across his desk toward me.

"You are a screwed up kid, do you know that? Who, seriously who, when they have their iPod in during school listens to classical music? Honestly…Clair de Lune?"

I thought that this would make him mad. Upset. Angry. But no. He has to go and surprise me with this weird look on his face. His forehead was wrinkled. He mouth was turned into a frown. But his eyes were shining.

"You know Debussy?" he asked after he managed to calm his features.

"I know a little. When I was younger my mom played classical music around the house. I remember my favorites." Edward turned back to face the front of the classroom. Mr. Banner had just walked in.

"It's one of my favorites too," I heard him whisper. I'm not sure if I was supposed to hear.

I turned back to the front of the classroom, thoroughly confused by the strange conversation that had just taken place. I didn't like him. I didn't. The rest of class I managed to keep my eyes locked onto Mr. Banner, not once sneaking a glance at Edward.

But I couldn't make myself forget just how beautiful he looked when he smiled.

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Anyone up for a good review?


	6. Chapter 6

This chapter can best be described as musical POV. You'll see why.

Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer and not me.

BPOV

Lunch was awkward. And that is putting a positive spin on it. I sat between big, bulky Emmett and angry, emo Edward, even though he seemed slightly less angry and emo than before.

No one spoke. Really. For the first fifteen minutes of lunch, none of us said a single word. But that was probably because of all the eye-groping.

JPOV

_My gosh. She is beautiful. She is absolutely beautiful._

_Emmett can date Rosalie. Who cares? I don't. It's not a big deal._

_How could I have been so dumb? I gave up a chance with her before even meeting with her. Stupid, stupid Jasper._

_Did she just look at me? I think that she just looked at me. And she's kind of smiling. Is she smiling at me?_

I felt my mouth form a smile. My eyes moved toward her face before I mentally slapped myself. It was not good to ogle the girl, the beautiful, perfect girl.

APOV

_I think that he is looking at me again. I'm so happy that I don't blush, at least not as bad as Bella is right now. Speaking of Bella, why hasn't she told me more about him?_

_His eyes are so intense. And I love his messy hair. I bet that it takes him forever to do it. _

_Oh, his arm just bumped against mine. Was that intentional? Probably not. It was probably just an accident. Oh, he is so pretty._

I turned to look up at him. He was looking at me. For what seemed like days, I was locked in his eyes.

Then, Edward cleared his throat.

EPOV

I cleared my throat. I did not know this guy, but I didn't like the way that he was looking at my sister. I didn't even know him.

And neither did she, so why was she giving him googly-eyes? She was acting like a love-struck teenager. I sighed.

I didn't want to deal with this on top of everything else. The blonde chick kept staring at me like I was a piece of meat and Emmett was going after Bella. He kept bumping her. She was redder than a tomato.

This was ridiculous. I just wanted to get away. This school, this town, was ridiculous.

All I wanted was to be back in Chicago. I wanted to be back in our old apartment and in our old school. And I missed Gia.

RPOV

"So, Edward, tell me about yourself?" I asked, putting on the voice that all the guys loved. His eyebrows shot up. It was an acceptable reaction.

"There's not much to tell," he replied. I pursed my lips together in a pout. A few more seconds and I would have him eating out of the palm of my hand.

"Oh, come on. Just one little thing. I'll tell you something about me." By this time, we had the table's full attention.

"I like music," he said simply. I sighed. Was he doing this on purpose? Was he trying to be vague?

"That's very specific, Edward. What kind of music?" He didn't say anything, just looked at me.

Bella answered instead. "Debussy."

I wanted desperately to know how she knew that. Bella knew all of the Cullens better than me. She knew Edward's taste in music. She was like best friends with Alice. And Emmett looked at her like she was a goddess. All I wanted was a little attention, but no.

"What is Debussy?" I asked.

"Classical music," Edward said. Classical music? Ew.

"Oh," I replied. Emmett laughed.

"Yeah, my reaction too. I prefer something with a beat. Get a little bass going." I turned to him.

"Exactly. Finally someone who gets it. Jasper here is into this indie folk crap. Either that or screaming or some foreign crap. And Bella…don't even get me started on what she listens to. I try to tell them that if you can't dance to it, then it's not worth listening to." Emmett was nodding his head, a smile wide on his face. Finally, the attention I deserved.

"Please, Rose. Just because you can't perform a cheerleading routine to Death Cab for Cutie doesn't mean that they aren't worth listening to," Jasper said, interrupting my moment.

"You like Death Cab?" Alice asked, speaking for the first time since sitting down. Her eyes were all for Jasper. I didn't care. Whatever it took to make her my new cheerleader.

EmPOV

Rosalie was so hot. And we had similar taste in music. And she was going to keep me from flunking. And she was a cheerleader. I was in love.

By the way that Jasper and Alice were looking at one another I knew it wouldn't be long before he would come to me asking for an amendment to our little agreement. And I would let him out of it out of the goodness of my heart.

His sister was so hot.

BPOV

It took him a while, but Emmett finally started leaving me alone and started bugging Rose. I hated to admit it, but she would eat him alive. Rosalie wasn't exactly known for keeping boyfriends. She was fantastic at getting them, just not for getting them to stick around. That was probably because they discovered that she wouldn't put out.

Emmett kept talking across the table to Rose. And Jasper and Alice were all wrapped up in their own little world. They had started to talk about how they both happened to be vegetarians.

So, I sat there silent. And awkward. I supposed that Edward and I could talk, as he was also silent, but I still didn't like him. And if I talked to him that probably meant that I had to look at him. That was just a bad idea.

EPOV

It was so awkward.

I couldn't help but think about Gia. She had been my best friend, but that was before…it was before a lot of things. Before the move. Before we dated. Before she cheated on me.

I didn't want to be thinking about her, because she most certainly wasn't thinking about me. She had moved on. I was beginning to think that maybe I should too.

* * *

A lot of things are going on in this chapter and I don't know how well it was done. Thoughts?


	7. Chapter 7

It's short, but I hope that it is worth it.

Disclaimer: Twilight is not mine.

APOV

I couldn't sleep that night. I just laid there in my bed, thinking of a boy I barely knew and sighing. And occasionally flailing my arms and legs around in annoyance at both myself and the situation.

I didn't know him at all, not really. I knew that his eyes made my heart stop and that we had the same taste in music. We were both vegetarians. When he smiled at me, I…I couldn't even form words.

There wasn't anything that I wanted more in the entire world than to get to know him. Deep in my heart there was this tugging, this ache, for him. It was something entirely new. And it frightened me. He frightened me.

The next morning I made it to Home Ec before Bella. I had to talk to her. I had to find out more.

She, not being blind or completely unobservant, saw that I was oh so slightly on edge. I was practically shaking, but that's beside the point. Bella smiled at me. She knew.

Her jaw fell open. Then, she began to laugh. I couldn't take it, so I started jumping up and down. I was on an adrenaline high and I needed to do something. Bella put both her hands on my shoulders.

"Calm down, Alice. It will all be fine. Trust me." I hate it when people tell you to calm down as if simply by saying it the act will just happen. Sometimes it's just not that easy.

"I can't." She looked at me patiently.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" I shook my head.

"I would prefer if you told me it. About him," I whispered the last part, but she still heard. Bella smiled again.

"He's really sweet and funny and my best friend. Rosalie means so much to him. I'm sure in the same way that Edward is to you. I've known him since…forever really. I remember running around in their backyard when I was like four. We've always been friends, even through really rough times. He and Rose are the only reason I survived my parent's divorce. He never had to say anything, but just his presence calmed me completely. I love him so much." Bella sounded so completely in awe of Jasper. It made me want to know him even more.

"Anything else?" I asked. She laughed.

"I have so much dirt on him. Where to begin?" Bella smiled. "He knows every word to the Backstreet Boys' Millennium cd, because Rosalie played it so much when it first came out. Um…He hates being called "emo." He's really not, though. Rose just says it to make him mad. 

Sometimes he seems to not care about anything, but that's just a cover. He is so completely passionate that I think it drains him. Do you understand what I mean?" I had no idea at all what she meant.

I shook my head. "Not really."

"Jasper just…feels everything. I don't understand it myself. He tried to explain it to me. He said to think about the happiest I had ever been and then to think about the saddest I had ever been. He said that he can feel both at the same time. Sometimes he just shuts it all off and feels nothing. I'm sorry. This sounds weird and probably isn't helping at all," Bella apologized.

But the truth was, I was fascinated. It was a little weird, but I was a little weird too. Maybe we all were.

"No. No, it's fine." I smiled, all the more intrigued.

By the time lunch rolled around, I was desperate. I didn't even look at what I put on the tray. My mind was elsewhere. When I arrived at the table, only Rosalie, Emmett and Edward were there. Bella came a few seconds later and sat across from me. She was smiling.

Then, I felt it. I felt him. He was walking towards the table. I knew this even though my back was turned. I just knew.

He slid into the chair next to me. My heart was pounding so loud that I was sure that everyone at the table could hear. Then, he looked at me and it stopped beating completely.

* * *

Thoughts? Opinions? Comments?


	8. Chapter 8

I couldn't decide whose POV I wanted this chapter in, so it's going to have both Bella's and Edward's.

Disclaimer: Things I do not own: Twilight.

EPOV

"Damn it all to Hell," I heard Bella Swan yell as she climbed out of her old, rusty truck.

She opened up the hood and then proceeded to get down on her knees and hug the truck. I watched in amusement as I walked towards my Volvo. It looked like she was praying to the truck gods.

"Come on, Baby. Why do you do this to me? I love you. I wash you. I put gas in you. I even let Rosalie play with you. So why do you hate me so much?" she asked, still on her knees. I laughed lightly.

I didn't laugh to be mean, but the scene was just too funny. I could not help myself. Alice came up next to me.

"Aren't you going to go help her?" Alice asked me. Was she being serious?

"She hasn't asked for help," I replied. That ticked off my sister.

"When did you turn into an ass, Edward? You used to be a gentleman." She bumped me as she walked toward Bella. Her comment stung a little, but that was probably because it was true.

"Hey. Is there anything we can do to help?" I didn't fail to notice how Alice said "we."

Bella stood up. She looked at Alice, frustration clearly evident on her features, even from where I stood. Alice gave her a hug. I didn't really see how that would help fix Bella's truck, but it did seem to calm the girl down.

"Rose usually fixes my truck, but now she gets out early because she is a senior and I don't have a ride home. And I really don't want to ride in the cruiser with Charlie tomorrow." Alice smiled.

"You can ride with us to our house. Rosalie is there helping Emmett and Jasper with a practice test for calculus. You can tell her and when they are done, she can bring you back and fix your truck. Plus, this means that you and I get to hang out. I'm so excited." Alice's happiness is contagious. I knew this from spending my entire life with her, but it never ceased to amaze me when I saw it in other people. Bella lit up.

She shut the hood of the truck and grabbed her bag. Alice locked onto her arm and pulled her over to me. Bella looked at the ground and not me. It was weird, but I guessed it was because of my comments about how much she stares at me. She was getting better, though.

"I hope it's not an inconvenience," Bella said to me.

I opened my mouth to reply, but Alice beat me to it. My guess was that she thought I was going to say something mean. I wasn't.

"It's no inconvenience at all. Oh, this is going to be so much fun."

The car ride could have been really awkward, but Ali wouldn't let it be. She talked almost the entire time, switching between topics that Bella knew and topics that I knew. There were even a couple of rare things that we both liked. And by rare, I mean that I discovered that Bella and I had quite a bit in common. That was the part that was awkward to me.

When we pulled up to the house, I saw Rosalie storming out. Emmett was right behind her. Jasper was right behind him. I parked the car and climbed out. This was going to be good.

"Rosalie," Em yelled. "Rose. Come back." She kept walking.

"No. Trying to grope me was not part of the deal. I said that I would help you with math, not anatomy." I closed my mouth tightly to keep from laughing.

"I wasn't trying to grope you. My gosh. I was reaching for a pencil." He was reaching for a pencil? Smooth Emmett. I'm sure that she will believe that.

"Whatever. I'm so over this," she said, her voice hard. "Jasper, are you coming?"

I heard Alice whisper "no." I didn't know if she really knew or if that was just wishful thinking. Either way, Alice was nearly always right. Jasper turned to look at Alice and then at Bella.

"I think that I'm going to stay. I have the feeling I'm going to need to give someone a ride home." He smiled at Bella, and then he walked toward Alice.

"Whatever," she said as she climbed into her car.

Bella took off after Rosalie. I watched as she tapped on the BMW window. Rose glared.

BPOV

She didn't want to let me in. She wanted to drive off angry. She had done it countless times before, but there was something weird about this time.

Rose had tears in her eyes as I held up one finger. And then two. She started laughing. It was the something we used to do when we were little. We got three seconds of sadness and then we had to stop. Rose used it on me all through my parent's divorce.

She unlocked the passenger side door and I got in. I closed the door behind me. Then, she started crying again.

"Tell me about it, Honey."

"I… I…I'm so confused, Bella," he voice shook.

"What do you mean?" She tried to turn away from me. "Rosalie Lillian Hale."

"I don't think that I can control myself around him. And I need to. I have to be able to control myself." Ah.

Rose had never really been the stereotypical cheerleader. Sure, she had the blonde hair and the perfect smile, but that's where the similarities ended. Rose was intelligent and would probably get salutatorian. She was also a virgin.

"Rose. What happened?"

"We were just sitting there at the kitchen table and they were taking the practice test. But Emmett kept looking at me. And he kept smiling. It was too much. I had to get out of there. So I ran."

"So why did you accuse him of trying to grope you?" She blushed.

"It was easier than telling the truth. 'Um…hey Emmett. I would love to stay and help you with math like I promised, but I really want to jump you right now, so I'm going to go.' Yeah. That would have gone over well."

"You shouldn't have made up a lie about him, especially if you like him." Rosalie sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I'm not going to like him. I'm not going to tutor him. I'm not going to talk to him, if I can help it."

"That's really healthy, Rose." She frowned. "I love you. It will all be okay."

"Love you too, Bells." She gave me a hug.

"Hey," I said, "My truck is kinda broken, so if you could maybe…" Rose smiled slightly.

"Yeah. No problem. I could use a good distraction."

"Thanks," I said, handing her the keys. She smiled.

"Be good, Bella. I'll leave the keys under your seat."

* * *

Review?


	9. Chapter 9

It's a bit of a filler chapter, but it explains a lot of what's been going on.

Disclaimer: Twilight is not mine.

EPOV

Then, all of a sudden, it was three weeks later.

Emmett and Rosalie hadn't said two words to each other since their fight, but they continued to sit at the same lunch table. Emmett talked to me or Bella. Rose stayed pretty much quiet, but I could tell that there was something that she really wanted to say. A couple of times I even thought that she was going to, but she never spoke the words.

Alice and Jasper were no help, especially after the little agreement came out. Rose looked like she might murder her own brother. Alice just looked hurt. The next day, though, everything was fine. It was probably the bouquet of wildflowers and the dramatic apology from Jasper that fixed that problem.

They spent practically every free minute together. I had to admit that he treated her nice. Jasper never raised his voice at Alice—whether because he was terrified that Emmett and I would kill him or because he was actually a decent guy I didn't know. Carlisle and Esme loved him. Even Emmett liked Jasper. I think he thought Jasper would be his way back into Rosalie's life. He was still pining away for her.

Then there was Bella.

We had begun to talk casually in Mr. Banner's class. She had even started looking at me again. I felt like a complete ass because I was the reason she stopped looking in the first place. If I had only been nicer…

Bella was pretty cool. It was really hard for me to admit that, because I had come to Forks under the assumption that everyone there would be small-town and lifeless. She liked good music—classical and modern stuff. And she was entertaining.

We had started to play a game before Banner's class started. We would each pick out a song and hum it at the same time. Whoever could figure out the other person's song first won bragging rights. She always won. In my defense, she chose the most obscure songs. I hadn't even heard of most of them, so I started a list of songs to download off of iTunes.

We were all sitting in the cafeteria during lunch when it happened. I had just stolen a chip off of Bella's try. She slapped my hand away. I smiled as I put the chip into my mouth. She wrinkled her nose.

Rosalie sighed deeply. It was time. I knew it. She was finally going to say it.

"Emmett, we need to talk." Everyone at the table froze. Everyone but Bella.

She stood up. "I'm done eating. Anyone else?" Still no one moved.

She hit my arm. "You're done," she told me in a firm voice. I nodded and stood up.

Jasper and Alice followed suit. We threw away our trays and walked outside. It was raining.

"It's about time," I mumbled. Bella smiled a small smile.

"She really likes him. It's just hard for her." I crossed my arms over my chest and walked under the awning.

"He has been terrible to live with the past few weeks. All the time he is…just pathetic over her."

"Please, Edward. You've been like that for over month," Alice interrupted. "I thought you of all people would understand missing someone." I glared at my darling sister.

"I don't miss her anymore." I felt Bella's eyes on me as I spoke.

Maybe it was a lie. Maybe I still missed Gia, but I didn't want to miss her. She wasn't who I thought she was. I used to think that I loved her. But I was pretty sure that I was in love with the idea of her. I had wasted more than enough time on a girl who didn't want me. And Forks wasn't that bad.

"How do you think it will turn out?" Bella asked. I shook my head.

"I don't know. That's Alice's specialty."

"Alice?" She got this huge smile on her face.

"Everyone is coming over to our house tonight. It's Friday night. We're young. We should be partying."

Carlisle and Esme were out of town at some medical convention thing. A party? We hadn't had a decent party since we left Chicago.

"Who exactly is everyone, Ali?" I asked.

"The six of us…and a few others. Don't worry. Everything will turn out fine."

All the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I hated it when she said that.

* * *

The party is next. Tell me what you think and I'll try to get it to you even sooner.


	10. Party!

* * *

Okay. Longest chapter yet and it's not even all of the party. I couldn't stop at the part where I was goign to stop. It just needed to get written.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Not mine.

BPOV

After school Alice handed out assignments to each of us. Somehow the whole school had found out about the party. It was going to be crazy at the Cullen house.

Alice made Edward and Jasper go buy refreshments. Rosalie and Emmett were assigned to music, as they listened to music that would appeal to most of the students at Forks High. The only thing I was required to do, however, was be Alice's Barbie doll.

She followed me to my house in Edward's Volvo, apparently calling my father at the police station and lying to him by asking if I could stay with her at Rosalie's house. She said this was because if the police came to break up the party, then Charlie wouldn't be looking for me there. I found her logic to be flawed.

Alice rummaged through my closet. She pulled out shirts and pants and skirts and even a dress that I forgot that I owned. She only found one outfit that was "party appropriate." She packed it, a pair of pajamas, and a change of clothes. Then, she dragged me back into the car and to her house.

Alice's detailed cataloging of my closet made us the last ones back to the house. When we got there, the kitchen table was already covered with twenty bottles of soda, chips, and a bag of animal crackers. Emmett turned on music and it belted through the sound system. He grabbed Rosalie's hand to twirl her. And she let him. I bit my lip to keep from smiling.

We passed Edward on the way up the stairs. He was coming down. Alice gave him an authoritative look.

"I already locked Carlisle and Esme's room. And I locked all of our rooms. Do you have your key?" he asked.

"Yes. Thank you, Edward." She gave him a hug.

"Anything else, Master," he asked with a smile. I noticed that he was looking at me, even though he was addressing her.

"Change your clothes before the party. And avoid Jessica Stanly at all costs. I have it on good authority that she not only likes you, but she can't hold her liquor."

"Thanks. And try not to torture Bella too much. If I hear screams, I will come and rescue her." I looked down as I felt my cheeks redden. He sounded so playful, so different. I wondered what made him different.

Alice continued you to pull me up to her room. Despite her brother's warning, she wasn't gentle. After washing my hair, blow-drying it, and straightening it, she began to apply makeup. And she began to ask questions.

"How long have you and Edward been secretly dating?" What?! I started to stutter. She had to be joking.

"Edwar—and…no. We're not…I don't even. He doesn't…no" is what came out. She laughed her little pixie laugh.

"Oh. Then, I must be mistaken. How long have you liked my baby brother?" I tried to stand up, but Alice put her hands on my shoulders and forced me back into the chair. "Answer the question."

"I don't like him the way that you think I like him. Sure, he's funny. And he can be sweet. And he likes good music. I can talk to him. Not to mention that he is insanely gorgeous…"

"Yeah, Bella. I get it now. There is nothing at all to like about Edward. Ugh. I'm sorry I even made you think about him. You must be scarred for life." I scowled at her.

"Stop it." Alice stopped doing my makeup and stood in front of me. Her green eyes, the only visible similarity between her and her twin, bore into mine.

"Let me just tell you what I know, Bella. Edward likes you. He may not be aware of it yet, but it's starting to manifest itself and not only with that little flirtation thing on the stairs. And you like him." I started to interrupt, but she put her hand over my mouth. "You may not be aware of it yet, but I can tell. You get this look in your eyes when I say his name. And you blush."

"I don't like him," I whispered, feeling stupid. Why couldn't I just admit it to myself?

"I want you to be happy. And I want him to be happy. I know that you are the reason he stopped being moody. You did what the rest of us couldn't. You brought him back to us." She hugged me as I bit down hard on my bottom lip.

Alice finished doing my makeup and told me to change into the outfit that she brought. I wasn't even paying attention as I pulled the faded denim jeans on. They were the kind that you bought from the store pre-ripped and worn. I had enough skills to do that kind of damage to my jeans on my own. I pulled the strapless black silk top on. It was a gift from Renee. I had never worn it before, but it fit.

Alice came out of her bathroom, makeup applied and gorgeous outfit on. She wore a short skirt that showed off her long legs, despite her height. And she wore a pink Death Cab for Cutie shirt. It was the band that brought her and Jasper together. We walked down the stairs.

By ten, tons of people were at the house. By eleven, it was packed. I was surprised by just how many of my classmates had easy access to alcohol, because a large majority of them were wasted. Living in Forks and having a father who was a cop meant that I didn't go to many parties. I stood awkwardly in the living room, trying to avoid the couples who were practically fornicating as they danced.

Finally I spotted people that I knew. Alice and I had gotten separated earlier when she had to go murder Lauren for flirting with Jasper. I never knew that Alice was the jealous type. Alice pulled Jasper and Edward toward me, holding tightly onto their hands.

"Having fun?" Alice asked cheerfully. I tried my best to fake it.

"Yeah." She laughed.

"Don't lie." Then, something crashed. "I have to go kill someone, but I'll leave you Edward for company. Stick with him. Come on, Jasper. You can be my muscles." They walked off towards the source of the crash.

"Are you having fun?" I asked Edward, having to lean in close to him because of the music.

"Not at all." I could tell that he was yelling, but I could barely hear.

"I can't hear anything," I told him. He laughed.

"Me either," he said. This I noticed that he was fidgeting with his hands. I looked up and saw that his eyes were staring right at me. "Do you want to go somewhere quieter?"

I smiled, knowing that I was blushing and terrified out of my mind. "Sure."

"You grab the coke. I'll grab the rum. Meet me on the stairs if we get separated." He looked into my eyes for another few seconds before turning to go into the kitchen. I followed him.

I grabbed an unopened bottle of coke and turned around. I couldn't see Edward, so I headed for the stairs. He wasn't there. I went to the top, so that I could get a better view of the scene in the living room. It felt like years, but in reality was just seconds before I spotted him. He was standing a few feet from the stairs. Jessica stood in front of him, blocking his way. She leaned in to kiss him.

Jealousy, big and mean, rose up in me. I ran down the stairs, still holding the soda. I grabbed Jessica's arm and turned her around to face me.

"Hey, Jessica. Have you met my friend…" I looked around for someone to pair her with. "Mike." I pushed her into Mike. She immediately latched onto him and started making out. It was really awkward.

"Thank you very much," a smooth, velvety voice said into my ear. I held back the urge to shiver. "Come on. Let's go."

"Where are we going?" I asked as he led me up the stairs.

"My room."

"Oh," I said. I was going to his bedroom. I was going to be Edward's bedroom. My stomach flipped.

I liked him. It was stupid of me to try and say otherwise. I was just being stubborn and trying to not get hurt. He was gorgeous. But Alice had said that he liked me. I didn't understand how that was possible.

Edward took me up the second flight of stairs up to the third floor. I had been there before. It's where Alice's room was, but Edward's room was vastly different. His walls weren't bright and happy colors. They were covered in art prints. I recognized Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Van Gogh, Botticelli, and Vermeer. His tastes in art were all over the board. It was surprising.

Edward sat down on the plush black carpet. He put his acquisitions on the floor—rum and the bag of animal crackers and two cups. I put the coke beside them.

"Do you drink?" he asked. Never. I had never tasted alcohol.

"Not really," I said warily. He smiled, seeing through what I said to what I really meant.

"Yeah, me neither. But tonight I think I'm going to."

"Why? Do you need a little courage?" I looked at the ground. I couldn't believe that I just asked him that.

"Maybe. Do you?" His question was a challenge. And I would not lose. I could be brave.

"Pour me a glass."

I watched as Edward filled the cups with rum and coke. He handed me mine. "Cheers," he said. I went to take a drink, but I was shaking so bad that I spilled it all over my top, my silk top.

Edward immediately hopped up. He walked across the room to a door. It was a walk-in closet that was almost as big as my entire bedroom. He grabbed a shirt and tossed it to me.

"If you want to change…I won't look, I promise." I couldn't doubt the sincerity in his voice. I nodded. He turned around and so did I.

I really did need to change out of the top; it had already started to cling to places. Being alone in a room with him was hard enough. I took off the ruined top and pulled on his t-shirt. It smelled like him—not that I went around smelling him or anything. I turned around and his back was still to me.

"Okay. Done." He turned around and his eyes seemed to flicker, a strange, but consuming radiance echoing in them.

He filled my cup again and this time I managed to keep all of the liquid in my mouth. After a few glasses, I was completely relaxed, at ease. So was Edward. He told me the story of Gia, the girl that he and Alice always casually mentioned, but never gave a name to.

She had been his best friend. And he had pined for her for two years. The day before summer vacation he asked her to be his girlfriend. And for a month and a half everything was perfect.

"What made it change?" I asked, enthralled by his story.

"We were moving to God-knows-where, Washington. Carlisle was taking a job that paid less and we were moving away from our home. I threatened Carlisle and Esme saying that I was going to stay. I begged. I pleaded. Then, when I knew I had to come, I told her. She wasn't happy, but I thought we would be fine. Then, we had this huge going away party and I couldn't find her anywhere. I thought that she hadn't shown up, so I went up to my room. I found her in my bed with some other guy." I gasped. What a slutty bitch! How could she do that to him? "No. Just wait. You have to hear the best part. She didn't even apologize or look sorry. She just said, 'It never would have worked out between us anyway.'"

"Well, that explains a lot." He smiled a little bit.

"You mean like why I was awful to you? I was not nice at all, Bella. And I'm really sorry. I hope that you can forgive me."

"That's old news. I forgave you a long time ago."

"Oh yeah? When?" I laughed.

"Like five minutes ago." He smiled wide.

"You are so beautiful," I heard him say. I thought it was just the rum talking.

He brought his hand up to my face and began stroking my cheek. Any amount of alcohol I had consumed didn't matter now. I was completely sobered up.

"Edward?" My voice was shaking.

"I really like you, Bella. And I know that you are thinking that I'm drunk or whatever, but I had three cups of rum and coke. I'm barely buzzed. I know that I haven't been great to you, but I want you to know that you…revived me. You brought me back to life after Gia nearly killed me. And I'm hoping that I haven't screwed things up with you, because I would really like a chance to be with you."

Now it wasn't just my voice shaking. It was every part of me. Somehow, miracle of all miracles, I managed to look him straight in the eyes. What he saw must have encouraged him, because slowly, very slowly, he brought his lips to mine.

* * *

I was going to stop after Edward's "My room" comment, but I figured that you all would tar and feather me. What happens next? I know...

Reviews are love.


	11. Chapter 11

Okay, I kinda lied. I was going to write more of the party, but I liked the idea of the mrning after better.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

APOV

Maybe it was mean, but I just couldn't resist. Rose, Jasper, and Emmett were behind me as I unlocked Edward's bedroom door. The party had gone on until about three. We had all crashed after that, but my darling little brother and the little liar who claimed that she didn't like him were no where to be found. I had seen him take her up to his room, but I forgot to mention that to the others.

As I opened the door, I looked at them, spooning on the carpet. Edward was awake; he sucked at pretending to be asleep, but I was the only one who noticed. Bella was still out of it, but she would be up soon enough. She was also wearing one of Edward's t-shirts.

"Oh my gosh. I can't believe this. I mean, it's Edward," Em said, half-whispering. He started to laugh quietly.

"I know. This is so unlike Bella too," Jasper echoed. Rosalie bent down and picked up the bottle of rum. Only about a fourth of the liquid remained.

"I assume this is the culprit," Rose joked.

"More like the excuse." The others turned to look at me. "Please tell me that you all aren't so dense that you didn't see what was right in front of you. This was bound to happen with or without alcohol."

"What do you think happened?" Emmett asked, a wicked smile on his face.

"As they are both fully clothed and not on the bed, I'm assuming nothing. Maybe not nothing, but they definitely didn't sleep together. I'd murder him if they did," Jasper threatened darkly. I watched Edward frown.

If any of the others were watching them as closely as I was, they would have noticed that Bella had also just woken up. Edward could tell. I think as an attempt to reassure her and also to silently tell her that he was also awake, he began to stroke her stomach with the thumb of the hand that held her against him.

"Edward is such a prude. I'm sure nothing happened. Though with this much liquor…" Emmett trailed off.

"Please, Emmett, they were sharing that bottle. You drank more than both of them combined last night and you didn't do anything," Rosalie said.

"Whose fault is that?" Emmett asked, raising his voice slightly.

"We are not talking about this again. I told you where I stand on that issue and if you can't respect that then find some other slutty cheerleader to fuck, because you won't be getting any 

from me," Rosalie yelled back. I rolled my eyes as Emmett leaned in to kiss her. She slapped him. Emmett leaned in again and that time she let him kiss her. Then, Rosalie smiled and took off running. Em was close behind her.

"That was seriously disturbing," Jasper muttered.

"Agreed."

"So, are you guys going to stop pretending to be asleep? We're not Rosalie and Emmett. We pay pretty good attention." I took Jasper's hand. I shouldn't have doubted that he also knew.

Edward opened his eyes and removed his arm from around Bella. She opened her eyes and sat up, looking at me the whole time and ignoring the boys in the room. There was pure panic in her eyes.

I walked over to her and helped her up. She needed me. I held her by the shoulders and walked her out of Edward's room.

"Talk amongst yourselves," I said as I closed his door.

As soon as I had locked my bedroom door I turned to Bella. "Oh, Honey, what happened?"

"Oh my gosh. Was that real? Did I seriously wake up in Edward Cullen's arms?" She had her head in her hands.

"I saw him take you up to his room. What happened after that?" We would have to do this delicately.

"We started drinking and talking. And…and then he said that he liked me. He leaned in to kiss me." What? No. That wasn't the end of the story.

"Keep going," I said a little impatiently. She laughed at me.

"We kissed. And then we kissed again. He got out his keyboard and played me Clair de Lune." That sounded like it was supposed to be important, but I didn't understand the significance.

"Anything else?"

"Then, we kissed some more. And then again. Oh my gosh. I think that I'm addicted to kissing him, because I…uh. Never mind. He's your brother."

"How did you happen to fall asleep like that?" I asked, ignoring her comments about making out with Edward.

"We were laying on the floor listening to music and he was just holding me. I guess that's how we fell asleep," she admitted kind of embarrassed. Now for the question I didn't really want to know, but had to ask.

"At what point during the night did you take off your shirt?" Bella blushed red. That's when she realized what she was wearing.

"I spilt some rum and coke on me. Your brother was kind enough to give me something to change into. This was before any confessions or kissing. And it stayed on the rest of the night." She sounded so…afraid, almost, that I wouldn't believe her.

"Well, that's good to know. Come on, Jasper and I made breakfast." Pancakes and bacon and eggs. I liked cooking with him.

"Just give me one minute to brush my teeth and change." I nodded.

A few minutes later, Bella came out of the bathroom. Her face was scrubbed clean of the makeup that I had so carefully applied the previous night. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail. She had also changed out of her jeans and into the other pair that I had packed. The only thing about her that stayed the same was that she was still wearing Edward's shirt.

"Come on," I said, grabbing her hand. I pulled her down the stairs. Everyone else was already sitting around the table eating. Well, Emmett and Rosalie were making out, but Jasper and Edward were eating. I smiled at Jasper and he smiled back at me.

I forced myself to look away from him long enough to catch Edward's reaction to Bella. He smiled wider than I had seen in over a month. I pushed Bella into the chair next to him. I slid into the chair next to Jasper. He took my hand.

"So, Bella, Edward, do you want to hear what you missed while you two were holed up elsewhere?" I asked.

"As you want to tell us, Alice, I doubt that we have any choice in the matter," Edward said.

"Well, Mike and Jessica are getting married. I think that they have you to thank, Bella." It was hilarious. After making out for nearly an hour, Mike stood up on the kitchen table and announced his undying love for Jessica. He asked her to marry him; she, of course, accepted without reservation. "Oh, and Emmett and Rosalie had their first kiss. It was actually really sweet. I didn't know that Em could be romantic. You should have seen it. 'You are everything—more than everything—that I have ever wanted. And even if we I spend forever with you and we never even kiss, forever with you is enough.' Like any girl could resist that."

Emmett and Rose were still making out, more intently now that I had reminded them of Emmett's words. It was getting to be distracting, so I figured that Em deserved a taste of his own 

medicine. I looked over at Jasper. He laughed once. I swear that sometimes he seemed to know exactly what I was feeling. He leaned in to kiss me.

It took about four seconds. Four seconds of kissing before my protective big brother pulled my boyfriend away from me. Emmett growled.

"Stop…doing that to my sister or I will hurt you," Em threatened.

"I will when you stop doing it to my sister," Jasper threw back. Emmett crossed his arms angrily.

"I guess that I can kiss Bella all I want and no one has a problem with that," Edward said cheekily.

"Um…no. I have a problem with that," Jasper said.

"Yeah. Me too," Emmett said.

"But, you are my brother," Edward replied.

"Yeah. And she can do way better. Plus, if I don't get to make out, then neither do you."

"This is really weird," Bella muttered.

Then I heard the front door open. My eyes got really wide as I realized who was here. Oh shit.

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Cue dramatic music. Help fulfill the circle of life (for fanfiction). I write. You review. I write more. Review. Repeat.


	12. Chapter 12

You all are so clever. And pretty fantastic reviewers too. So, for you my lovelies, a new chapter.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Not mine.

EPOV

I knew it the second the door opened. I could practically hear how angry they were. The look on Alice's face confirmed it. We were dead.

In a futile attempt to soften the blow, Alice jumped from the table and ran towards the living room. They made it to the kitchen before she made it to them.

"Daddy," she squealed as she wrapped her arms around Carlisle. Esme rolled her eyes. Carlisle didn't look like he bought it either.

"Alice go sit down." Oh, yeah, he was definitely pissed. Carlisle and Esme just stared at us, their arms folded. They knew we did something wrong. We knew that they knew we did something wrong.

"Which one of you wants to explain what happened last night? And while you do that could you also explain why I should refrain from killing you." I knew Carlisle's scary voice well. This wasn't the first party I had been busted for.

"It's my fault. Don't blame the others," I volunteered. I could be the martyr. If it meant that the others could get away scot-free, I could deal with being grounded for two weeks. Bella's dad would kill her and then me if he found out.

"No, Edward. You are not taking the blame for this." It was noble of Emmett, but it really meant that we would both be imprisoned without a possibility of parole or time off for good behavior.

"It was my idea. I roped everyone into doing it. Don't blame them. It was all me," Alice said. I didn't realize that my siblings didn't understand that I was offering myself up as a sacrifice. Now we were all screwed.

Carlisle scowled and turned his back to us. Esme put a hand on his shoulder. She shook her head.

"I'm very disappointed in you. We trusted you alone. And you broke that trust." I hated it when Esme said that she was disappointed. That was infinitely worse than being grounded. She had been so good to us and we let her down. Carlisle spun back around to face us.

"Would someone like to tell me about the sleeping arrangements? Because as I see it there is Alice and Jasper, who are dating. And then there is Emmett and the girl that he drools over." Carlisle completely ignored Bella and me. I wanted to smile, but I held it back. We were the only ones that actually did anything.

"Rosalie slept with me in my room, Dad. Gosh," Alice said.

"And Jasper slept in the guest room on the second floor. I know it's all socially acceptable and whatnot for two guys to share a bed and all, but Jasper is so not my type." Of course Emmett would have to make it into a joke.

Then, I felt Carlisle's eyes on me. I wasn't off the hook like I had hoped. He cleared his throat. Slowly, I looked up at him.

"Yes, Dad?" I asked calmly.

"Everyone's sleeping arrangements are covered except yours and Bella's."

"I didn't realize we were under scrutiny," I told him. He frowned.

"Edward, you are not that good at hiding your emotions. Do you seriously want me to believe that you have come to love Forks for the culture? Or might it have something to do with the girl that you tease every time she comes over to visit Alice?" I, apparently, was an open book. How long had everyone else known that I liked Bella? It had to be well before I realized it myself.

"I…How long have you known?" I asked.

"A while," he answered with a half-smile.

"It's actually really sweet," Esme threw in. She smiled a real smile at me and then at Bella.

"You have yet to answer the question, son." Crap. I was hoping that I distracted him.

"Sir?" I heard Bella say beside me. I reached underneath the table for her hand. I couldn't believe that she was answering.

"Yes, Hon, what do you want to say?"

"I slept on the floor in Edward's room." I squeezed her hand.

"Where did Edward sleep?" Carlisle seemed calmer addressing Bella than he had with me.

"Next to me, but nothing happened. We were listening to music and we just fell asleep." The complete truth. I don't know if I would have been so truthful. It was a definite gamble, but it might just pay off.

Carlisle pinched the bridge of his nose. He sighed. Esme began to massage his shoulders.

"Go clean up the house. I'll decide what to do with you all later," Carlisle said.

We all got up quickly and rushed out of the room. But as soon as we got there, we realized that we didn't have any cleaning supplies so I was volunteered to go back into the danger zone. I ran in and grabbed the box of trash bags, running straight back out. It didn't really matter, though. Carlisle and Esme went up to their room.

In order to avoid temptation, Alice suggested that us guys clean the first floor and the girls take the second floor. It was a decent idea. At the very least, we would avoid an awkward situations with the parents.

Emmett held open a trash bag while a grabbed cups and bottles and cans. There was so much alcohol. I couldn't blame them for being mad when they saw how trashed the living room was. The bad thing about drunk people was that they really didn't care where they put their empty beverage holder.

"You realize that Bella probably saved your ass back there. She had to go and put on the respectful, truthful, virtuous girl routine. Parents eat that stuff up," Emmett said.

"Yeah. I know." It was totally true. "Did you hear how Dad described Rosalie as the girl that you drool over?"

Emmett started laughing. Jasper punched him in the arm. For a few seconds, they just stared each other down. Then everything was fine again.

"That's my sister," Jasper said.

"Says the guy who stuck his tongue down my sister's throat during breakfast," Emmett replied.

"No. That was you and it was with my sister." Em laughed.

"Oh yeah. Sorry, man." Jasper laughed.

"Don't worry about it." I liked that they were arguing, but I knew that it would eventually end. And when it did I would be the focus of their torture.

"So, Eddie boy," Emmett said. And here it was. Pain and agony. "How many bases?"

Time to play dumb. "I don't play baseball, Em. You must have me confused with your other brother."

"That was the sorriest attempt to deflect a question that I've ever seen," Jasper said. They were both against me. Wonderful.

"Well, Edward. You guys drank together for the first time. I saw the bottle and the cups. And you mentioned kissing her early, so I know that you guys have done that together. What else did she do little brother?" I felt myself start to growl. "Did she pop your—" I tackled him. And I started swinging. Jasper pulled me off him and held my arms.

"You do not talk about her like that, not ever. You got me?"

"Wow. Defensive, are we?" Emmett asked with a smile. I lunged at him again, but Jasper still held a firm grip on me.

"He can't hold me forever, Emmett. And you shouldn't be mad at me just because you didn't get any last night. What was it Rose said? Something about her not having sex with you?" His eyes got wide. Yep, Emmett-buddy, I was awake for that.

"Oh, he got you Emmett." Jasper let go of me. Now Emmett was the one getting defensive.

"Please, Jasper, like you are getting any." He raised his eyebrows.

"You know nothing about my and Alice's relationship." This was the wrong thing to say. Emmett pushed him up against one of the living room walls.

"You even think about having sex with my baby sister and I will gladly murder you." Emmett sounded really scary.

"I would say the same thing to you, but I already know that my sister won't be sleeping with you. Can you say the same?" It was my turn to threaten the boy. I liked him a decent amount, but not that much. I had just pushed him back against the wall when someone yelled out my full name.

I turned to see all the girls on the stairs. Alice had her hands on her hips. She marched down the stairs and pushed me away from Jasper.

"Get the hell away from my boyfriend, Edward. What do you think you are doing?"

"He is talking about sleeping with you," I said in defense of myself.

"So? It's none of your business."

"Like hell it's not."

"Edward, seriously, this is me we are talking about. I love Jasper. And if we decide to do anything, then it is none of your business. Neither of you can keep threatening him for doing or wanting to do with me what you guys want to do with your girlfriends. Well, Emmett has a girlfriend. You have a cuddling buddy." I looked briefly at Bella. She was blushing.

"But Alice," I started to say that it was different with us. I tried to find some logic in my own argument and came up empty.

"But nothing," she said. Jasper wrapped his arm around Alice's waist. He smiled at her.

"You love me?" he asked. She smiled wide.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

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Reviews are honestly the reason why I write so fast. It's like proof that someone actually likes what I write. Encouragement is the best muse.


	13. Chapter 13

I feel really bad because I got all those lovely reviews and then I didn't post a chapter yesterday. I had the stomach flu. It was awful, but I promise to make it up to you. This is a short chapter, but I'll post a couple more for you today. Hopefully that will also make up for tomorrow. Tomorrow is my birthday and I won't be near a computer.

Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to the wonderfully swesome Stephanie Meyer.

BPOV

Alice had been really mischievous and convinced the boys that they should clean the downstairs while we cleaned the second floor. The first floor, especially the living room, was trashed. The second floor had a few cups lying around, but was, for the most part, clean.

Alice really just wanted to talk. I was beyond thrilled when I discovered that it was to Rose. Short, little, intimidating Alice drilled Rosalie on what happened the previous night at the party. I just stood by and watched, thankful that Alice had been a little gentler with me. It seemed that she was very protective of her brothers.

After Alice received answers all to her satisfaction and we had picked up all the cups, we headed down the stairs to help the boys. That was when we heard the arguing. Emmett sounded really angry, but we couldn't see him yet.

"You even think about having sex with my baby sister and I will gladly murder you." He had to be threatening Jasper. It made me a little upset.

"I would say the same thing to you, but I already know that my sister won't be sleeping with you. Can you say the same?" Jasper asked. Right as we got there, Edward pushed him up against the wall. His eyes were murderously dark. And though I knew that I shouldn't be thinking in this way, I found it really hot.

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen!" Alice yelled. She glided down the steps, quickly and stealthily, like a hunter on the prowl. She pushed Edward away from Jasper. "Get the hell away from my boyfriend, Edward. What do you think you are doing?" And even though Alice is a good friend of mine, I kind of wanted to punch her.

"He is talking about sleeping with you," Edward replied. His tone was entirely defensive.

"So? It's none of your business." Alice replied, her hands on her hips.

"Like hell it's not." Aw. He was trying to protect her.

"Edward, seriously, this is me we are talking about. I love Jasper. And if we decide to do anything, then it is none of your business. Neither of you can keep threatening him for doing or wanting to do with me what you guys want to do with your girlfriends. Well, Emmett has a girlfriend. You have a cuddling buddy." Cuddling buddy? Is that all we were? Edward's eyes looked up at me and I felt the blush form. What were we to each other?

"But Alice," he tried to argue again.

"But nothing," she said. Jasper wrapped his arm around Alice's waist. He smiled at her. It was his perfectly happy smile.

"You love me?" he asked. She smiled wide.

"I love you," Alice replied.

"I love you too."

I nearly swooned. It was adorable. And I was happy for Alice and Jasper, that they had found one another.

Then, I looked at Edward. I was really confused. He had said that he wasn't drunk last night, but don't drunk people always say that? He was acting very different. But that had started about a week and a half before. He couldn't have been drunk that long. So something else had to explain his irrational behavior, like talking to me and smiling at me and acknowledging my existence.

When Edward met my gaze, I looked away. My stomach churned. Knowing that I would never make it up the two flights of stairs to Alice's room before either A) Some caught me or B) I tripped and fell to my death, I took off running anyway.

The first flight of stairs was easy. Plus, I had the element of surprise on my side. What I neglected to ever consider was how fast everyone else could run, especially Edward, who was apparently the world's fasted runner. He had his arm around my waist before I was on the third step of the second flight of stairs. Edward spun me around to face him. Because of the change in speed and direction, however, I fell into his chest, his very muscular chest.

"Oh," I exclaimed.

"Where are you running to?" he asked.

"Alice's room," I replied simply.

"Who are you running from?" I didn't answer. He frowned at me. "Bella?"

I still didn't answer. His arm slackened around my waist, so that he was no longer holding me tightly to him. I risked a glance at his eyes; they were looking at the floor.

"Why are you running from me?" He sounded so helpless. I wanted to just wrap my arms around him.

"I…I don't know." I mean, I sort of knew. I just needed time to think through what happened. He said that he liked me. And we kissed. And I slept in his arms. I didn't know where we stood.

"Do you regret last night?" Edward whispered his question, pain evident in his voice.

"Do you?"I asked.

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Yeah, I know. I suck. I can live with that. I will update soon.


	14. Chapter 14

Next chapter, as promised.

Disclaimer: I still do not own Twilight.

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BPOV

"Do you regret last night?" Edward whispered his question, pain evident in his voice.

"Do you?"I asked. His eyes shot up to look at me. Disbelief marked up his face.

"No," he answered almost immediately. "How could I? It was one of the best nights of my entire life."

Edward brought his left hand to my face. His fingers stroked my cheek for a few seconds before slowly sliding down my throat. My breathing was erratic, when it came at all.

"You never answered my question," he whispered.

I was going to answer. I was going to tell him that I didn't regret it, but then I heard a door open. And I saw the way that Carlisle's eyes were bugging out of his head when he saw how his son was holding me. Esme had an entirely different look in her eyes. She almost looked smug.

"Everyone downstairs right now," Carlisle said.

Edward removed his hand from my neck and the arm from around my waist, instead taking hold of my hand. We followed his parents down the stairs. There was only one seat on the couch. Edward sat down and pulled me onto his lap. I wanted to hit him. I had already gone to all that trouble of being honest in order to avoid harsher punishment and he had to be all… I knew that Esme didn't mind as much, but she wasn't the only one handing out sentencing.

"I guess we'll start with oldest first. Emmett, two weeks and no Rosalie except for tutoring. And one of us will be present for your tutoring," Carlisle said. Emmett looked down and sighed.

Esme was the one to hand out Alice's punishment. "No shopping for a month. And no Jasper for two weeks."

"No, Mom, no. I'm sorry. Just…a month. That's really harsh," she said, tears in her eyes.

"The party was your idea." I saw Jasper squeeze Alice's hand.

"Jasper and Rosalie," Carlisle started. My head whipped around to look at him. Did he forget Edward's punishment? Or was he just saving it for last because it was really bad? "We are not going to tell your parents, but I hope that you will respect the punishment that we are giving to Emmett and Alice. It will be easier for us all if you wouldn't come by the house for two weeks, except for the days that you help Emmett with math Rosalie." They both nodded.

Deep breaths. It was time. I felt like I was going before the executioner.

I was beyond thrilled when it was Esme who spoke. "Bella, I would like to talk to you in private." I nodded. Edward let go of me and I followed his mom into the kitchen.

She sat at the kitchen table and I sat across from her. Esme was beautiful and so young. Too young to have children in high school. She smiled softly at me.

"I don't know what happened between you and Edward last night, what's been happening between you two for a while. All I know is that you performed a miracle. He's so different than he's been for over a month. He's Edward again; he's happy again."

"I don't know that that has anything to do with me," I said, looking down at the table.

"Dear, it has everything to do with you." She paused for a second. "I love all my kids. And I don't regret adopting when I was twenty. They needed us, especially Edward. He's always been so sensitive and after what they all went through with their birth parents…It was bad, Bella, but he finally came out of his shell.

Then, that girl broke his heart. I wanted to murder her for what she did to him. You can't see, Bella, because you don't realize the state he was in before he met you. I was afraid of what he would do; terrified that he would try to hurt himself. I was powerless. Nothing I did or said could make him better."

A knot formed in my stomach when she talked about Edward hurting himself. My mind went back to the first couple of days of school and how dark he had seemed. I had called him emo, but I had no idea. I felt tears sliding down my cheeks.

"I didn't know," I whispered, wiping the tears away.

"There's no way that you could have. He said that his life was over, that there was nothing more to live for. Then, about a week ago, I heard him playing again. He hadn't played in so long. I went to ask him about it and he told me about you. I am eternally thankful for you, Bella, and what you've done for him. And I'm such a hopeless romantic that I just can't keep you from him, even though Carlisle is in there punishing him like there's no tomorrow." I pursed my lips.

"How bad is it going to be for him?" Esme laughed a little.

"My husband and I have different opinions on that. He thinks that the biggest issue was you in his room all night. And though he knows that nothing happened, he wants to use Edward as an example to scare Emmett and Alice." I frowned.

"What about you?" Esme reached out and out her hand on my arm.

"The party was clearly Alice's idea. The only reason Edward was even down stairs at all during the party was because of you, so he would have been locked in his room either way. The only difference was your presence. And, like I said, I can't keep you from him. I'm too afraid of what would happen if you two were apart. So, I'll convince Carlisle to reduce the sentence." I smiled and bit my bottom lip.

"Thank you," I said. "Are you going to tell Charlie? My dad?" I remembered that regular kids referred to their parents by dad and mom.

"I won't, but I do have one condition."

"Anything," I agreed before I had a chance to regret it.

"You and Charlie will come to dinner on Monday night." I blanched.

"Why?" What was her motive for doing this? Was a meal really necessary?

"I want to meet my son's girlfriend's father," Esme said simply. Time to look down at the table again.

"Oh, we're not really…I'm not his…" I trailed off. Sorry, Esme, but even though I spent the entire night in Edward's bedroom, we aren't dating.

She held her hands up. "No need to explain. I just assumed, because you are wearing his favorite shirt." I looked down. I was still wearing Edward's t-shirt. It was just so comfortable and it smelled like him. "How did that happen, by the way?" I opened my mouth to answer, but someone else answered for me.

"Strip poker. She won the shirt off my back." I turned to look at him. A huge smile was plastered across Edward's face. "I really suck, but that was probably because I was plastered. Tequila—never again."

"You had better be joking, Edward. I was going to convince your father to decrease your punishment, but if you were plastered…" Edward walked around the table behind Esme. He wrapped his arms around her and put his face next to hers.

"You know how much I hate the taste of tequila," Edward joked. Esme reached up and pulled his hair. Edward's jaw dropped.

"Ow. Ow. You know I'm just kidding, Mom. I'm the good kid, remember?" He smiled at me. I smiled back. Esme looked at me.

"I remember. So is she. Don't lose her." I blushed.

"Don't worry. You can't lose something, if you never let it go."

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I will seriously try to post the next chapter tonight. Review?


	15. Chapter 15

Yeah. So much for not updating today. I love you all too much for that.

Disclaimer: If I owned Twilight, I probably would have screwed it up. Thank heavens that it belongs to Stephanie Meyer.

BPOV

Edward held my bag in one hand and my hand in his other. The September breeze blew a few stray hairs—ones that I had neglected to put tightly in my ponytail—loose. It was time for me to leave the Cullen house and return to my home.

Charlie was probably waiting to open presents or something. I guessed that's also why he let me stay at "Rosalie's" house. Today was my birthday. And, though most people would be ticked, I was kind of happy that everyone forgot.

Edward sped to my house, literally. At one point he was going fifteen miles over the speed limit. This would definitely be a problem. I couldn't have the guy I liked getting pulled over by my father.

Way too soon, before we even had a chance to talk or clarify what was going on with us, we were parked in front of my house. Charlie's cruiser wasn't there. Maybe he wasn't there with presents. Happy Birthday to me.

"Happy Birthday, Bella," Edward said. My head whipped around to look at him. How did he know that? The look on my face amused him, because he started to laugh.

"H-How?" He took my hand.

"You didn't honestly think that we all forgot did you? Well, Emmett and Alice never knew. But Jasper told me on Monday. It took a lot of bribing to keep your birthday a secret. "

"Why would you do that?"

"Because Jasper told me how much you hate it being a big deal. And I know my sister. I love her to death, but the party last night would have looked like a children's party compared to what she would have done. It would have been more for her than for you. It's your day. " I looked in his eyes and I felt like I was melting. He was…I don't know marvelous, wonderful, sweet, perfect—take your pick.

"Thank you," I whispered.

He smiled. "Well, we only have until Monday until the bomb drops. Apparently, Jasper doesn't like keeping things from Alice. That's how long the bribe is in effect." I groaned.

"I'm coming to your house on Monday. How bad do you think it is going to be?" I asked.

"You're coming to my house?" I blushed and looked down.

"Yes. Your parents want to meet my father," I said, looking rather conveniently at my hands.

"Oh." Just one syllable. That's the only response I got.

There were a few seconds of awkward silence. And it made me, more than ever, wonder where we stood. Was I just a one time cuddling buddy? And if I was then why did he go to all the trouble of bribing Jasper for my birthday?

He squeezed my hand, bringing me back. I looked up at him. His eyes were cautious, a little bit of fear in them. It made me scared too.

"Umm…this isn't exactly how I planned today going. Carlisle and Esme weren't supposed to come home. Alice wasn't supposed to throw a party. I was supposed to get you to myself. Everything I told you last night, I was going to tell you today sans the rum. I was going to show up at your doorstep and drag you to Port Angeles with me. Now I have…eleven minutes before Carlisle, literally, calls the cops and reports my car stolen." Was he being serious? I made a face and Edward laughed. "He thought that I was a flight risk, didn't want me to drive you home in the first place, but when Esme found out it was your birthday…no power alive can stop Esme. Dad didn't stand a chance. But I do have a time limit."

"That really sucks," I said. It was going to take much more time than we had to sort this whole mess with us out.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Or maybe not. "I know that's really abrupt or whatever, but I planned on having hours to do what I, in reality, only have minutes to do. I hope that you can forgive all that I've done, so that you can see how different I am with you. Someone completely different from the jack…jerk I was at the—" I put my hand over his mouth.

"Shut up, Edward." Fear flickered in his eyes for a few seconds.

I removed my hand from mouth and placed it on his cheek. Now, a completely different emotion was in his eyes. His lips formed a smile as I brought mine to his.

Edward's lips were, at first, gentle at mine before escalating to rough and a bit possessive. I didn't mine one bit. I had to pull away first; I couldn't breathe. It must have been his kissing expertise.

"So, is that a yes or a no? Or a maybe? Do I need to persuade you further of my positive attributes?" I laughed breathlessly.

"No. I'm pretty sure that you just did that." Edward smiled.

"So…maybe?" I punched him in the arm playfully.

"Yes, I will be your girlfriend, Edward. Gosh. No need to beg or anything."

"I can't help it. I found the perfect girl, who my mother loves, by the way, and I don't want to let her go."

I raised an eyebrow. "Your mom loves me?" He smiled.

"Probably more than she loves me. And that is saying something." Edward looked at his watch and sighed.

"How much longer do we have?"

"Five minutes if I speed back to the house or two if I don't. Your choice."

"I would really prefer if you didn't die on my birthday. So, as much as I don't want you to go, you got two minutes."

"Okay, I guess that means that you want your present. Well, part of your present. I'll give you the rest on Monday when you come with your father to meet your boyfriend's family." He was smiling his crooked grin that made my heart race.

"Ugh. Please do not say 'father' and 'boyfriend' in the same sentence. Charlie is already going to go into conniptions over this, regardless of if I use the b-word." The thought of Monday made me sick to my stomach.

He laughed at me, but in a way that I could see he was trying to not make me mad. "Do you want your present or not?

"Fine," I said, still a little on edge.

He reached into the backseat and pulled out a small square wrapped in shiny silver paper. I took it from him and began to open it. I nearly screamed as I felt the paper cut my skin. He saw the look of agony on my face.

"What?"

"Paper cut." His face relaxed considerably.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine."

I finished opening the present. It was a clear cd case. I looked up at him for some explanation.

"Number four is just for you," he informed me like it was supposed to help.

"What does that mean?" He groaned. And brought his lips to mine briefly.

"If I had the time I would explain it or we would listen to it. As it is, I was supposed to leave thirty seconds ago and now I'm going to have to speed." I didn't want him to leave. If I could have, I would have stayed with him in that car for days. He got a strange look on his face.

"What are you thinking?" I asked him.

"I'm trying to determine how much I really love my Volvo. I can do without it for a month, right?" I shook my head.

"No. No. I'm getting out right now. There is no way I'm letting you lose your car for me. Number four, right?" I said, grabbing my bag and reaching for the door handle.

"Bella?" I turned around. And, suddenly, Edward's lips crushed against mine. "Happy Birthday."

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So...I know my birthday is not going to be as good as Bella, but can I at least leverage it to guilt you into reviewing?


	16. Chapter 16

This is the first half of the school day. It was going to be one big chapter, but it's late and I'm not going to finish it tonight. I'll give you the rest soon.

Disclaimer:Twilight is not mine.

EPOV

I was so nervous. My fingers tapped the desk loudly and repeatedly. It was my own fault. I shouldn't have run from my first class to my second class, just so that I could see Bella sooner. Now, I had to wait on her. I don't cope well with free time.

I was so nervous, way more nervous than I should be. But even the simplest of tasks seemed insurmountable for me. I nearly begged Alice to help me pick out my clothes. I wanted to look good for Bella.

When she walked into the classroom, my breath stopped. She looked so beautiful. She was so beautiful. Bella took her seat next to me, a smile lighting up her face.

"You got a song?" I nodded.

"Do you?" She nodded right back at me.

"Yeah. Okay, are you ready? Go."

We both started humming. And, though we were humming different parts, it was the same song. I stopped first. It was her lullaby.

"It's so…I nearly cry every time I hear it and I've been playing the cd non-stop since Saturday. Can you die from an overload of beauty?"

"You like it?" I asked. It sounded like she liked it.

"I absolutely love it. What is that song? The one you said was mine?" I looked away for a second. She didn't know.

"It's the song I wrote for you."

Composing music had been the farthest thing from my mind, an indulgence for happy people. But a melody kept playing in my head, haunting me in my dreams, my every waking moment. I got to the point where I just snapped. I climbed out of my bed at three in the morning and let the melody flow through me. I didn't stop until I was done.

Esme came in about half way and just sat there watching me. It was almost six by the time the song was done. Only when I played it in its entirety did I realize what I should have known all along. She was the siren silently luring me to the only death worth dying: life. And love. And hope. Bella was what was haunting me.

"You wrote it?" An emotion was stirring deep in her eyes. I thought it to be disbelief.

"Yes." She smiled so wide. It was captivating.

"I want to kiss you so bad right now," she whispered as she leaned across the aisle, closing the distance between us.

"Then, kiss me," I told her. Bella bit her lip and shook her head. It took all my self control not to kiss her right then.

"Not at school. I don't want to be one of those couples." She shuddered. I smiled.

"But you admit that we are a couple," I said, a little loudly. I noticed that a couple of people turned to look at us.

"Edward," she said with a sigh.

"Bella." I was happy. I couldn't help the smile that continued to gain foothold on my face. "I thought that we were dating."

"We are," she said quietly.

"What was that?" I asked. Bella groaned and pushed her hair behind her ears. She was adorable when she was annoyed with me. "Just tell me what you said, Bella."

"We are," she admitted, thinking that it was over. It was far from over.

"We are what?" Bella turned around in her desk and faced the front of the room.

"Forget it, Edward. I think we have to break up." I started laughing. I know. I know that it was the wrong response to an angry girlfriend trying to break up, but she just looked so funny.

"But we were dating?" I asked, still laughing. She nodded once. "Did you guys see that? Did you see it? Bella Swan just admitted to dating me."

The kid in the seat in front of me, Tyler or something to that effect, turned around. He smiled wickedly at me. I wanted to punch him for whatever comment was about to come out of his mouth.

"Since you and Bella aren't dating anymore could you maybe put in a good word for me?" I turned to Bella. She was blushing, but she looked ticked.

"Yeah, that's not going to happen. You don't give up on a relationship without a fight," I informed him.

"What makes you think that she'll take you back? I know you are all big-time Chicago or whatever, but that doesn't mean that you can have whoever you want." Now the kid was pissing me off. I felt my hand tense and form a fist before another hand relaxed it.

I looked up at Bella and then back at our hands. She had completely smoothed out my hand so that it was flat on the desk, her fingers massaging the palm of my hand. It was by far the most sensual thing I had ever experienced—way beyond kissing or making out. It was subtle, but beautiful. Entirely Bella.

The moment was too personal to be shared with an idiotic ape. I took Bella's hand and intertwined our fingers. As I looked her in the eyes, I brought her hand to my lips and gently kissed it. She smiled softly at me.

It would have been the perfect moment, but then Mr. Banner walked in and started class. My time with Bella was over way too soon. I would have to wait until lunch to talk to her again. As it was, I was content to just hold her hand and let everyone else in the classroom know that she was mine.

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218 Reviews. 6776 Hits. Fantastic. Aboslutely fantastic. I love you guys.


	17. Chapter 17

This is almost entirely fluff. I couldn't help it. I'm in a fluffy mood. The dinner with Charlie, Carlise, and Esme will be next.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

EPOV

I met Bella at her locker so that we could walk to lunch together. Sappy, I know. But there was something about her that made me want to act like a love-struck teenager, the ones that I always complained about.

Bella's locker was covered in pink streamers and balloons. "Happy Birthday" was written everywhere, even on the inside. Only Alice could find out someone else's locker combination. And by find out I mean bribe someone into giving it to her.

I took Bella's hand and we walked to the cafeteria, our brief "split" long over. Everyone else was already at our table. And so was a three-tier birthday cake.

As soon as Bella sat down, Forks High choir began singing to her. I squeezed her hand as she blushed red. I was going to have to kill Alice for the embarrassment that she was dumping on my girlfriend.

Apparently someone else was also less than thrilled with Alice. But it was someone unexpected: Jasper. When the singing was over, he grabbed his tray and stood up, shaking his head. I watched as he threw it away and walked outside. Alice frowned.

"What was that about?" Bella whispered her question to me.

"I'll tell you later," I whispered back.

We sat there for several moments in awkward silence before Alice got up and stormed from the table for no apparent reason. Bella, Em, Rose, and I watched her leave. I thought that I was the only one who knew what was going on with Alice and Jasper. I was wrong.

"It's her own fault," Rosalie said in defense of her brother.

"This is completely Alice. She always goes overboard," Emmett agreed.

"What are they fighting about?" Bella asked, the only one out of the loop. Neither of them answered. Instead, they looked at me.

"Jasper warned her not to make a big deal about your birthday. She, respectfully, disagreed. And he's less than thrilled with her." Bella looked down at the table, and then back at me. Her eyes were sad.

"This is because of me? They are fighting because of me?" I looked at Rosalie. I couldn't handle this on my own. She, thankfully, got the hint.

"Don't worry about it, Bella. You know how moody Jasper is. He'll be over it in like five minutes." Rose smiled at her.

"Yeah, and Alice will realize how insane she is being. She wouldn't risk anything with Jasper. She loves him, remember?" Emmett threw in. I mouthed "Thank you" to him. Em nodded.

"Everything will be fine. You have more important things to be worrying about than other people's relationships," I hinted. She turned to me, her eyebrows raised.

"Like what? Pleasing my boyfriend?" I laughed once.

"No. Like getting your boyfriend some of that cake. It looks so good." Bella got a wicked look in her eyes.

"Not before the birthday girl."

Bella ran a finger through the edge of the cake, coating it with frosting. She stuck it in her mouth, eyes closing. She was a little temptress. Sure, she looked all innocent and naïve, but that was all a façade.

Then, she started to do it again. Her finger was covered in frosting. Bella tried to tease me with it, so I grabbed her hand, isolating her finger and licked the frosting from it. She stiffened and so did I, terrified that I had gone too far too quickly.

Instead, Bella wiped her finger on my face. I rolled my eyes at her, but she was laughing. I started laughing too. She made a face at me.

"Ugh. You got your spit all over my fingers."

"You weren't complaining when my spit was in your mouth," I replied. She punched me in the arm.

"I was gagging on the inside," she said with a smirk.

"And people say that we are bad," Rosalie said. I turned and looked at her and my brother. I had forgotten they were even at the same table.

"They are so sappy that I want to hurl. Pass me some of that cake," Emmett said, always the comedian.

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I love reviews like you love quick updates.


	18. Chapter 18

A good long (for me at least) chapter for those of you who hate my short chapters. Sorry. Hopefully you all like it.

Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to the lovely Stephanie Meyer, but if she was offering it, I wouldn't refuse.

BPOV

The stress was going to kill me. It already had a plan worked out of how it would creep slowly up, silently, unsuspectingly, and then it would jump out of the coat closet and chase me around the house before finally, and thankfully, murdering me in cold blood. Dinner was going to be a nightmare.

Esme had called Charlie on Saturday night after he got back from his fishing trip with Billy Black. We had just finished eating the spaghetti dinner I had made and were about to sit down and open presents. Then, the bomb dropped: dinner with the Cullens.

Of course, after that, I had to explain the situation to him. Edward and I had just started dating. It wasn't a big deal. He didn't need to freak out. And he certainly didn't need to bring his gun to dinner. That was the part that I had to reiterate to him.

He still wasn't happy. And he barely spoke to me unless he had to. I didn't have a lot of experience with dating—Jasper had always been very protective of me—and, by default, Charlie didn't have a lot of experience with me dating. I couldn't really blame him.

I stood in my room after school on Monday, staring into my closet. I despised everything that I owned. Then, I remembered that Renee's package had come in that day, but I hadn't opened it. She always got me clothes.

I ripped open the package and was surprised that I actually liked what I found. Renee's and I's tastes differed greatly. I was more casual. She was more…dressy or whatever it is called. But the blue sweater was beautiful.

I pulled it on and found my only skirt. It was knee-length and khaki. My outfit was completely parent-appropriate. Charlie wouldn't have an aneurism, but it was nice enough that Esme would appreciate. I still couldn't read Carlisle; I didn't know what he wanted or liked or if he even ever smiled. He was with Esme, so he had to be a decent person.

I went in the bathroom and straightened my hair. It took entirely too long. By the time I was finished, Charlie was home. I applied a little bit of makeup, just eyeliner and lip gloss, and went downstairs.

Charlie was sitting in the living room. He peeked up at me from the newspaper. I noticed that he had changed out of his uniform and into jeans and a nice shirt. He was making an effort. That was a good sign.

"You look nice, Bella," he said to me.

"Thanks, Dad," I mumbled at my feet.

"When are we supposed to be there?" I sat on the couch and then looked at my watch.

"About twenty minutes."

"You're ready early. Anxious?"

"No," I answered, but a little too quickly. Charlie chuckled and looked back at the paper.

I sat there waiting and wishing that I could control time. I just wanted to get this night over with. No good was going to come from it.

The car ride there wasn't any more soothing. I was on edge and I kept fidgeting. It felt like the stress was in the back seat with a butcher knife teasing me. It was going to kill me, just not yet. I hadn't suffered enough yet.

And then we were standing on their doorstep and Esme was inviting us in. Until the moment that I saw Edward's face, I doubted that I would survive. With him there and his hand holding mine, however, I had no doubt that it would all be fine…eventually.

"Hello, Chief Swan, I'm Edward…Cullen." Charlie laughed once.

"I was really hoping that you were the boy she was dating, seeing as you are holding her hand." Edward's faced flashed like ten different emotions from panic to confusion to calm and all over the board.

"Um…yes, sir."

We were in the living room. Carlisle and Esme were sitting on the couch. Charlie was in a chair. And Edward and I were awkwardly standing between the two. I felt like we were on display.

"Dinner will be ready soon," Esme said, easing the tension. "Just a few more minutes."

Then, awkward silence fell over the room. I looked from Charlie to Carlisle. Then, I looked at Edward. Finally, I looked at Esme. Thank heavens for Esme.

"How was your birthday, Bella?" I smiled, thinking about Saturday.

"It was really good…Yeah, a good day." Esme smiled.

"What did you think about Edward's present?" she asked. Charlie's eyebrows went up. I had yet to inform him about what Edward gave me.

"I only gave her the cd so far. I figured that I would give her the rest tonight," Edward said. I had forgotten that there was more.

"I love the cd. It's incredible." He squeezed my hand.

"Is that what you've been playing non-stop?" Charlie asked. I blushed.

"Yeah," I admitted quietly, looking at the floor.

A timer went off and I let out a breath of relief. Saved by the bell. I figured that we wouldn't be able to talk much at dinner; everyone would be too busy eating. I was, like always, wrong.

Charlie kept questioning Edward on his future and his goals and his plans. And then Carlisle jumped in and started asking me all the same questions. Edward was willing to go anywhere to go to college. I was considering Northwestern University. It was a recent consideration. Both Esme and Edward smiled. Northwestern had a campus in Chicago. Edward could go back to the city he loved and I could go with him.

The questions kept coming: major, career, marriage age, family size, political affiliation. I learned more about Edward during that dinner than in the three weeks I had known him. But, unlike what I assumed was our fathers' goal, I didn't like him any less. If anything, I had fallen for him even farther.

By dessert, I believed that they would be out of questions. Again, wrong. It was getting to be disconcerting how often I was wrong. Charlie finally asked the typical father talking to his daughter's boyfriend question.

"What are your intentions with my daughter?" Edward smirked.

"Bella is an amazing young woman, Chief Swan. I just want to be part of her world for as long as she'll let me." I squeezed his hand under the table as I blushed. He was almost unbearably sweet.

"And what if I don't let you be part of her life?" Charlie asked. I looked up at him, glared at him was more like it. He had to be freaking kidding me. Rage was radiating from me. This was complete and total crap.

"If you don't want me to be part of Bella's life, then I will respect your wishes. But just know that there is no one alive who understands better how precious Bella is, how much of a gift she is, and that I would never hurt her. If I did I wouldn't be able to live with myself and I give you privilege to murder me in any way that you see fit."

"Good answer, kid," Charlie said. And then, thankfully, his questions were done.

"Chief Swan, I would like permission to take your daughter outside and to give her the second part of her birthday present," Edward said respectfully. He had jumped through more hoops tonight than any guy should ever have to. He must like me.

"That sounds fine, Edward. Just behave yourself." Edward stood up and pulled me to my feet.

"Thank you, sir."

Edward and I walked outside. He led me to a porch swing and we sat down on it. The moon looked so big in the clear night sky. It was comforting, soothing, relaxing. Or maybe that was just what I was feeling to finally be out of that room with those people.

I put my head on Edward's shoulder and he wrapped his arm around me, pulling me closer to him. It was a great moment. I remembered something that I had forgotten to ask him about earlier.

"What was your punishment for Friday night?" I asked.

"Well, Carlisle grounded me for a month, which means no music, no television, and no computer except for homework. And also no you." I frowned.

"A whole month apart, except for school?" I groaned.

"Are you kidding me? Don't underestimate Esme. By the time she was done with Carlisle my sentence was greatly reduced."

"So what? Three weeks? Two weeks?" I asked, growing impatient with his lack of answers.

"One week, starting on the day of the offense, not the day of the punishment. So that means that you and I have a date next Saturday night." I heard the smile in his voice.

"That sounds really nice." It sounded absolutely wonderful. A date with Edward—no parents ruining it by giving us the third degree.

"Do you want the rest of your present?"

"Sure," I said a little warily. Edward loosened his grip on me, so that he could look me in the eyes.

"It is kind of weird and not really a present for you so much as it is for me. I mean," he sighed. "I don't know what I mean. It's not even really a present. It's a story…not even a very good one and I don't want to ruin your birthday…"

"Like Charlie and Carlisle didn't already attempt to do that. Just…say what you need to say." He looked so cute when he was nervous.

"It's about my parents—my birth parents—and how I came to be adopted my Carlisle and Esme. I've never told this story to anyone—everyone important to me had been involved—but I want you to know me, everything about me. And this is a big part of me. I used to think that it defined me, but it doesn't have to. Esme taught me that." He took a deep breath and I squeezed his hand to reassure him.

"Esme was our babysitter from the time she was sixteen until…well, that's getting ahead of the story. My father was a wealthy banker and my mother was his perfect trophy wife. I remember 

times in my childhood where I was unbelievably happy. But, I don't know, one day it just changed. My father was drunk and he hit my mother. Any time he came home like that, she would tell us to hide in the closet or pantry, anywhere so that we would escape his wrath. She took it all for us. But one day, Emmett got mad at him and told him to stop hitting her."

I watched as Edward closed his eyes. He swallowed hard. I couldn't believe his story. Nothing like this was supposed to happen to people that I knew. It was for television crime dramas and novels.

"He broke three of Emmett's ribs and gave him a bloody nose. Esme didn't believe my father's story and reported him. Before any one had a chance to check up on us, my mother was dead. He cracked her skull and left her there to die. I found her and called 911."

I felt like the air had been knocked out of me. Tears started dripping from my eyes. I looked at Edward and noticed tears in his eyes too.

"Esme was nineteen and she knew us better than any family that we had on either side. She fought so hard to get us in her custody and then to adopt us. She was the only thing that made life bearable during those months, years afterwards. Then, she met Carlisle. Esme had so much baggage, twenty years old and three kids, but Carlisle loved her too much for that to be an issue. He has been a great father. I know that he's been a little rough lately, but he is just being protective of me. Like Charlie is being protective of you."

I wiped my eyes and swallowed, hoping that would make it easier for me to speak. Edward looked at me, his gaze careful. I saw worry in his eyes.

"Was that too much too soon?" he asked. I shook my head.

"It's who you are. I'm glad that you trusted me with it." My voice was unstable. He brought his hand to my face and stroked my cheek.

"I feel closer to you than I have with anyone ever. It's really scary." His eyes locked in mine.

"Yeah, I know, completely terrifying."

"Almost surreal. Almost like a dream, a wonderful dream that you don't want to wake up from." He was stealing the words from my mouth.

"Better than a dream," I said. I leaned forward and kissed him. He pulled away and nodded.

"Way better than a dream," he agreed.

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Review. Please? Pretty please with sugar on top?


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: I tried to post this like ten times last night, but was acting all screwy.

Disclaimer: Twilight is not mine.

BPOV

"I'm so sorry, Bella. I can't believe I almost forgot my wallet. We can just stop by the house really quick." Edward kept repeating a variation of this phrase ever since he discovered that his wallet wasn't in his jacket pocket. We weren't even outside of Forks city limits, but he was freaking out.

I put my hand on tip of his that rested on the gear shift. I wasn't really sure what to do to soothe him, but my gesture seemed to help him in a small way. His shoulders relaxed and he sighed.

"Everything will be fine, Edward." I smiled at him. For a few seconds he didn't say anything.

"How much of a loser am I if I admit that I am so nervous about this date? I just want everything to be perfect and I've already screwed it up," he said in one breath.

"Nothing is screwed up. And you're not a loser. I almost forgot to put on shoes. That would have messed things up. This is nothing." He smiled, kind of.

"I don't know what I would do without you."

We pulled up to his house and he asked me to come in with him. I waited in the living room while he ran up the two flights of stairs. I heard a guy's voice call my name. Following the voice, I walked into the kitchen. Emmett and Rosalie were studying calculus. Carlisle, their chaperone, looked bored out of his mind.

"Hey guys. How's the studying going?" I asked. Emmett smiled, but Rosalie frowned.

"Terrible. I can't get him to take anything seriously," Rose said.

"It's just so boring and confusing," Emmett retorted.

"You have a test on Monday that you are going to fail unless you stop making excuses. The calculus test is not going to care if you find it boring. It will still kick your ass," Rose said, and then she looked at Carlisle. "Sorry."

"Do you know what?" Carlisle said, standing up. "I think that you kids have been so well-behaved that you don't need a chaperone any more. So, I'm just going to…"

He headed for the living room and I decided to follow him. As soon as I was out of the kitchen, I heard Em and Rose bickering. They were like an old married couple.

I sat on the couch and looked over at Carlisle. He was in his chair and he was smiling. It was the first time I had ever seen him smile.

"One more minute of that and I was going to have to shoot myself. I don't know which was worse--the actual calculus or them fighting about calculus." I smiled.

"They are like that at school too, during lunch. Pretty much anytime they are together. They are always fighting. I've never seen Rosalie happier than when she is with Emmett."

"I've never seen Edward happier than when he is with you," Carlisle said. I looked at the floor, blushing, like always. "Look, Bella, I know that you think that I don't like you."

"I never said that," I said quietly. Carlisle chuckled.

"I know, but, as my son has recently reminded me, I can appear unfriendly when I'm really not meaning to. I do like you, Bella. You're good for Edward, but, even more than that, I can see that you are a good person. All of my children speak so highly of you."

"I…I don't know what to say." I bit my bottom lip.

"Just know that you are welcome here any time. Esme and I would love to have you here for dinner or brunch or whatever, preferably not breakfast." I blushed, understanding what he was really saying.

"Oh my…Carlisle! I can't believe you just said that," I exclaimed, unable to control myself.

"What did you say to her, Dad?" I heard Edward's voice.

I looked up. He was coming down the stairs, worry written all over his beautiful face. Carlisle was laughing so hard and I found it contagious. A few giggles managed to escape, my face still bright red.

"I just told her that I didn't want the two of you having any more sleepovers."

I looked up cautiously to see Edward's reaction. I saw something that I had never seen before. He was blushing.

"Uh…um, okay…yeah," he stammered out. "I think we should go, Bella."

I stood up and took Edward's hand. Carlisle stood too. He winked at me. I had to admit that he wasn't nearly as awful as I had imagined him in my head, all evil and mean.

"Have fun," he called out as he walked up the stairs.

The car ride to Port Angeles was fun. Edward let me play with the radio. He was always so anal about his music. He hardly ever just listened to listen. I had to constantly remind him that it was okay to listen to pop music when you were in a good mood. It wouldn't burrow itself into your brain and wait for the perfect moment to explode, like he believed would happen. Because I was in charge, we listened to a lot of awful '90s pop. Somehow, I managed to be lucky enough to find Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears' early stuff. My boyfriend looked so mad at me.

About halfway to Port Angeles, I switched his satellite radio to classical. And, like a divine signal, Clair de Lune came on. Edward took my hand and kissed it. He must have really liked my hands, because he was always kissing them, not to mention that one time involving frosting. That was interesting…

We went to this Italian restaurant in Port Angeles. Both the hostess and the waitress flirted shamelessly with Edward, causing my hands to become fists more than once. I was jealous. Why did he have to be so incredibly gorgeous? Both the girls walked away unsatisfied, though. Edward barely looked at either of them. His eyes were glued to me. It was a major boost to my ego, but it also confused me beyond reason. I was anything spectacular.

After dinner we went to a movie. I had never made out during a movie, had never even had a guy hold my hand at a movie. But, of course, that was before Edward.

Edward smoothed my hand out on the arm rest and began to massage the palm of my hand with his fingers. It was familiar. I had done the same thing to him to keep him from assassinating Tyler. But this was very different. It sent shivers up my spine.

I turned to look at him. His emerald eyes seemed to glow even in the darkness of the theater. Edward leaned in to kiss me. And then we got a bit carried away.

When I finally came up for air, I found myself on his lap. I have no idea how I got there. And there were several people staring, including this idiot from school named Mike. His face was priceless—a perfect mixture of curiosity and disgust. I busted up laughing.

And then Edward started kissing my neck.

Needless to say, I have no idea what happened in the movie. On the drive back to my house, Edward got online with his phone and pulled up a plot summary. Apparently, we went to see a romantic comedy. It was supposed to be funny and heartwarming. That's what my father would hear at least.

We pulled up to my house too quickly. I didn't want to leave him just yet. Edward turned to look at me, his eyes doing that unfair smoldering thing again. My stomach muscles tightened.

"So," he started playfully, "We know that my parents don't approve of sleepovers. What would be your father's reaction?" I blushed.

"Oh, I'm sure that Charlie would be fine with it up until the point that he shot you."

"So, it's probably not a good idea," he said with a smile.

"Not if you enjoy living," I replied. He laughed, his whole face lighting up. Then, he got really serious.

"I don't want you to go."

"I don't want to go," I told him.

"I already miss you." He kissed me softly.

"Me too, but I have an idea." It had just occurred to me. And it was completely sappy. What was this boy tuning me into?

"What is it?" he whispered secretively.

"How long will it take you to get home and up to your room?" His eyebrows shot up. I can only guess what his perverted teenage mind was thinking. Boys.

"Um…give me about ten minutes from the time I leave your house, just in case I run into some difficulties."

"Okay, ten minutes from the time you leave my house, I'm going to be playing your song for me. You play it at your house and pretend I'm there with you, because I'll be pretending that you are playing for me." He smiled wide.

"You realize how corny that is, don't you?"

"Yes. But…I don't know, Edward. I need something. Being apart from you is torture."

"It sounds like you are addicted to me," he said with a laugh, but it was true.

"I am," I admitted, embarrassed.

"It's okay. I'm addicted too. When we are apart, I feel like…a heroin addict who needs his fix."

"And I'm your brand of heroin?" I joked.

"Yes, you are exactly my brand of heroin."

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Okay, so here is where I normally beg for reviews. But I have a question for you all. I have a few more chapters of this story left, but I do have an idea for a sequel if anyone would be interested in that. So, I guess my question is if there was a sequel would anyone read it?


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Chapter 20. In order to celebrate this monumental achievement (it's my first fanfic to make it to 20 chapters), something a little different, something a little unexpected. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Twilight doesn't belong to me.

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"Are you sure?" he asked, his lips still fully attached to mine. We were both panting. And it felt like my heart was going to burst.

It had started out innocent, just a little kissing in the living room while we watched some lame movie. We had the house to ourselves for the afternoon. His parents were practically asking for trouble. They should have known better with us.

After the innocence left our kissing, it was replaced by something much more powerful and driving. It was me, while lying on his chest on the couch, that suggested going up to his room. I'll never forget the look on his face when he heard my question. He was stunned.

But that lasted all of half a second.

He pulled me in his arms and carried me up the stairs. Our lips never separated. At least not until he put me on my feet.

I backed away from him, creating some distance between us. His eyes darkened. When he tried to take a step for me, I took another one back, shaking my head at him. It took him only a moment to understand the game.

The way he looked at me made me feel powerful, like I actually knew what in the hell I was doing, as opposed to the truth. I was terrified out of my mind. And I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing or saying. He growled, a little bit.

I pushed him up against the door. His smile was so wide. He was enjoying this. That must mean that I was doing something right. My lips found his neck and traveled up to his jaw. Kissing I was good at. Everything else was a complete mystery.

I backed away again, looking at his eyes.

"I love you," I whispered, fearing his response.

"I love you too," he replied immediately.

I had never been in love, really in love, with anyone before. The thought sent my heart into palpitations. I couldn't control it and the way he was kissing my neck didn't help.

So, I pulled away again. And I made a choice, one that I wasn't sure if I was going to regret or not. But I didn't think I was going to. He was the man I loved.

I walked over to his bed, unfamiliar territory, and sat on the edge. Very slowly, he walked over and sat beside me. He knew what this meant. We had discussed it numerous times. He kissed me.

"Are you sure, Rose?" Emmett asked.

I brought my hand up to rest on his cheek.

"I love you," I took a deep sigh, "And I want to have all of you. And I want you to have all of me."

"If you are sure. Because there is no pressure, Rose. I don't want you to do something just to make me happy," he offered chivalrously.

"But you admit it would make you happy," I teased. Emmett smiled his smile that made my heart melt.

"I love you and being with you would make me very happy. But you mean so much more to me than just sex." I bit my bottom lip, something that was much more of a Bella thing to do, but I was nervous.

"I know. I want this. I want you."

Emmett started kissing me again. We lay down on his bed both of us lying on our sides, facing each other. His eyes burned into mine.

"I love you," he whispered.

* * *

Looks like I'm writing a sequel, so yeah. And...review, if you feel like it.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: I managed trick at least a few of you guys by not putting the POV on the last one. I was, as one reviewer put it "sneaky sneaky." I can deal with that. I'm thinking only one or two chapters left. We'll see.

Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to the beautiful and wonderful Stephanie Meyer.

EPOV

I walked up the stairs and down the hall. Knocking once on the door, I opened it and walked in. This was a very big mistake.

"Hey, Emmett I—. Oh, sh--." Emmett and Rosalie were lying in his bed. And though they were covered by a blanket, it didn't take a medical degree for me to determine that they were naked. I couldn't believe him. "Sorry. Em, can I talk to you?"

I turned around and waited in the hallway. All the while, in my head, I was making a list of the people who would murder my brother. I was at the top next to Jasper.

Emmett came out a few seconds later. He wore baggy, black athletic shorts, but no t-shirt. His hair was messy. I sighed angrily.

"What were you thinking, Emmett?! This isn't another one of those idiotic sluts back in Chicago. Rosalie. How many times did she say that she wasn't going to sleep with you? And then you have to go and…do this." I paused for a second and Emmett tried to speak, but I wasn't finished yet. "Rosalie is my friend too, Emmett, and I'll be damned before I let you hurt her."

Emmett smiled. That was not exactly the response I was hoping for. I stared at him, completely confused. Then, I got even more confused. Emmett looked shy, bashful.

Okay, first off, I'm not the same person I was in Chicago. We've all changed. You know that better than anyone. I'm not into idiotic sluts anymore. And secondly, I love Rosalie," he said.

"Wha…You love her?" I asked for clarification.

"Yes, little brother, I am in love with Rosalie Hale." Emmett was smiling so wide.

"Oh…uh, oh." I looked down.

The bedroom door opened and Rosalie stood in the doorway. I knew this because I was looking at her feet. I didn't know if I could ever look at her in the face again.

"You're not going to say anything, are you?" she asked.

"I won't say anything. I just thought that you had better taste than that," I joked. Emmett backhanded me in the chest.

"I love Emmett," Rose said. And, though I didn't want to, I looked up at her. She was smiling. I couldn't doubt her sincerity.

I wanted to. It had been like seven weeks since school started. You couldn't love someone; really love someone that soon, especially when you spent half that time not talking to them. Right?

But the proof was in front of me. Emmett loved Rosalie. Rose loved Emmett. And if they, of all couples, could be in love that soon, then could I be in love?

"Hey, Edward," Emmett said, but I was barely paying attention. "We are going to go out to eat. Do you want something?"

"Umm…no," I said not really sure what I was denying. "I'm just going to go to my room."

I sat on the floor in the exact spot where Bella and I first kissed. And I replayed every moment that we had known each other. Humming. Staring. Confessions. Kissing. Dinner with our fathers. Our first date. Our second date. Watching movies on the couch. And, above everything else, the change in the way she looked at me.

Bella, like I had so rudely pointed out, had stared at me. She told me that it was because she found me attractive. But after I was a jerk to her, she stopped looking at me completely. It took about a week of being a human being to get her eyes back. I had to earn her gaze.

The way she looked at me at the party had made my heart go into a frenzy. By then, I already knew that I liked her, but I didn't know how she felt about me. That one look gave me the courage to kiss her.

When I told her the story of my parents, she wasn't flippant with it. She treated it like it was her own story. And, even through the tears, the way she looked at me never changed. Bella didn't think I was less of a person because of what I had been through.

Every moment I spent with her was a perfect moment, even when we were teasing or even bickering at each other. Kissing her was the most exhilarating experience and I feared that my heart wouldn't be able to take it. But it always survived.

But I wondered, would my heart survive if I loved her?

I went through all the analogies of love that I knew. Love is a battlefield. Love is suicide. Love is murder. Love is death. I figured either I only knew the morbid analogies or love really would kill me.

But that didn't make the feeling in my heart change.

And before I had any clue what I was doing, I took off running down the stairs and out of the house. I started my car and just drove. Without consciously thinking about it, I drove to my destination.

I had just dropped Bella off at her house. We had gone to see a matinee in Port Angeles. We actually watched the movie this time…for the most part.

As I parked in front of her house, my stomach tightened and I thought I was going to puke. A lump formed in my throat and my heart was beating wildly. I was pretty sure that I would expire any second. If this wasn't love, then I don't know what love is.

Somehow, I was able to force my feet to make the journey up to her from door. My hand raised itself and knocked on the door before I told it to. My body was doing this all on instinct alone, because I was being no help at all.

Charlie answered the door. He looked down at me in a concerned way. I probably looked like I had the flu or something, so I don't blame him.

"Edward. Is there something I can help you with?" he asked.

I opened my mouth to speak, but words, real words at least, weren't coming out. Charlie laughed.

"I'll get Bella."

A few seconds later, she stood in front of me. She was a goddess, an angel, perfect. She had been my salvation and my redemption. How could I not fall for her?

"Are you okay?" she asked. I shook my head. "Okay. What's wrong?" Her tone became worried.

"I…I…it's…" I mentally kicked myself for sounding like such an idiot.

"Are you breaking up with me?" she asked.

"No," I exclaimed immediately. A look of relief passed over her face. She sat down on the porch.

"Then, what is it, Edward? You can tell me anything." I sat down beside her.

"I know. And I want to tell you, but every time I try the words won't come out." She put her hand on my cheek.

"Just start talking. The words will come out eventually," She suggested.

"I saw Emmett and Rosalie today and they are just so happy with each other and I couldn't help thinking about you. I feel like we've been through so much in such a short amount of time. I mean, you're my best friend and I share everything with you. You know nearly everything about me, everything but this. And I'm really worried about your reaction to this." I looked at her.

"Nothing will change the way I feel about you," she said.

"I really hope that is true," I replied. She brought her lips to mine.

"Just tell me."

"I love you."

* * *

So, a bit of a cliffhanger. Revew.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Another short chapter. There is one more after this and then I go to work on the sequel. You all are fantastic and I hope you'll stick around to see what happens after this.

Disclaimer: Twilight is not mine.

APOV

"Hey, Beautiful, what are you thinking about? You look miles away," Jasper said, kneeling in front of me as I lay on his bed. His beautiful brown eyes locked with mine. My two weeks of being separated from him--also known as torture--were long over.

"I'm thinking about the future. And about the past," I said, shaking my head as I recalled everything that had happened since the move to Forks. "And even though nothing happened the way we thought it would, it's all working out. Everything will work out right."

He smiled as his blonde bangs fell in front of his eyes. Jasper pushed them away. "And...that's just something that you _know_?" he teased.

"Don't you _feel_ it?" I teased back.

"What do you mean that it didn't happen like we thought it would?" Jasper asked.

I paused. Jasper knew all my secrets, even ones that I hadn't shared with my twin brother. I had told about my knack for knowing what was about to happen. I didn't understand it, but he didn't make me feel like a freak. Still, was it fair of me to tell him other people's secrets?

"I ruined Edward's surprise for Bella's birthday, but he fixed my mistake and asked her out anyway. And everything with Rosalie and Emmett has been screwed up from the beginning, but they are perfect for each other." Jasper laughed once.

"What about us? Did anything not happen the way you thought it would?" He raised an eyebrow at me. I think he was trying to make the question sound casual, but I could tell that he was honestly curious.

"Well, I figured that I would have gotten in your bed before now," I said, deflecting his question.

"Alice," he said in exasperation. We were both still holding tight to our virtue, though I knew that if I said that I wanted to sleep with him, he wouldn't argue. "Will you just answer the question?"

"I probably wouldn't have gone overboard for Bella's birthday if I knew how bad we would fight," I admitted. Jasper started laughing.

"We fought for like half a day and then we were fine."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, thank goodness I pushed you into the janitor's closet."

His eyes got this far away look. That had turned out to be a good day. I had dragged Jasper into the closet and begged him to forgive me. At first, I didn't think he would forgive me, so I kissed him. And he kissed me back. We spent about ten minutes having fun in the closet, and then the janitor opened the door. He cleared his throat and I grabbed Jasper's hand. He was done for the 

day, but I was supposed to have another class. I skipped it and we went to his car and made out until school was over. I kind of felt like a floozy. Carlisle and Esme would have a fit if they found out, because I was supposed to be grounded from him.

"That was a good day," Jasper said.

"It was. It was almost as good as the day that I realized that you loved me," I said with a smile.

It was during lunch a few days before when I saw the way he looked at me. Pure love filled his eyes. I was sure that he was going to tell me right then, but he didn't.

"I realized that you loved me way before you realized that I loved you," Jasper replied, a little cocky.

"That's just because I fell in love with you first. I can't help it that you are slow," I said it like a challenge, shifting my body so that I was sitting on my knees.

"What exactly are you saying?" His eyebrows were up.

"Just that if you want something, then you should just go for it. Don't waste time."

He stood up, taking both of my hands and intertwining our fingers. Jasper pulled me to my feet, so that I was standing on his bed, while he stood on the floor. Even then, I was only barely taller than him. Our eyes and lips were on the same level.

I stood completely still. This was all him. I could let him be control. Jasper briefly kissed my lips. Then, his lips found my neck. I struggled for words.

"How far?" I managed to say. The nice thing about being in a relationship with Jasper was that words weren't really mandatory. We still managed to find a way to understand one another. He understood exactly what I meant.

"Not today. It's not perfect," he said between kisses. "I want everything to be perfect when we..."

I laughed, his breath tickling me. "It will be."

"Another thing that you just know?" he joked.

"Trust me," I said, locking eyes with him, "You're going to feel it."

* * *

326 Reviews. 12741 Hits. I know you all are dying to know Bella's reply to Edward's "I love you," but I needed to tie up some loose ends with Alice and Jasper first. You'll find out soon enough. Review?


	23. The End

A/N: I apologize for being completely sadistic and putting Alice and Jasper's chapter in between Edward's "I love you" and Bella's response. I couldn't resist. I am a mean person. So, this is the last chapter of this story. I will start posting the sequel probably on Monday or Tuesday. Thank you all for reading and I hope that you've enjoyed it.

Disclaimer: Nothing has changed in 23 chapters. Twilight still isn't mine.

"Edward, my truck is acting funny again," I whined into the phone the second he answered.

"That's the third time this month, Bella. You should take up the offer to get a car that was made in the last twenty years or so." It seemed that the entire world was against me on this issue, but I loved my truck.

"Fine, Edward, if you don't want to give me a ride to school, then you don't have to. I'll call Rose. She can _fix _my truck." Maybe it was a little cruel undermining his masculinity like that, but he'd get over it.

"I can fix your truck too," he said. His voice sounded amused, completely unscathed by my comment. I silently pouted. "I have the number for a great mechanic. Or better yet, I have a number for a great car dealership. I'll let you pick the color," he offered.

What was it with everyone trying to buy me a car? They had to know that I couldn't accept. Still, every single one of them had suggested a car. Actually, Emmett wanted to buy me a Escalade, but I think it was because Carlisle and Esme didn't want him driving one.

"Are you coming to pick me up or not?" I asked, annoyed.

"Is Charlie still there?" I rolled my eyes.

"Why does it matter?" Silence. "Yes. He's still here," I replied, growing angry.

"I'll be there in a few. Bye."

"Bye," I said and hung up the phone.

I informed my father that my boyfriend was coming to pick me up. He didn't say anything. I couldn't really tell if Charlie liked Edward or not. If anything, he seemed to tolerate him. It was better than nothing.

Edward pulled up to the house a few minutes later. He must have been speeding again. One of these days Charlie was going to pull him over and I would have no sympathy. He flashed a wide grin at me as he walked around the car to open my door.

He opened the passenger side door and I slipped in. He carefully shut the door. I thought that he would walk straight to his side and get in, driving us off into the sunset and whatnot. Edward stopped and talked to Charlie.

I watched with curiosity, unable to hear the conversation. At one point Edward looked down at the ground. He was blushing. What could make Edward blush? Then, Charlie laughed. It got me really worried. Both of them turned to look at me, smiling. Finally, my father patted Edward on the back and climbed in his car.

"What was that all about?" I asked as soon as Edward got in.

"Nosy much?" he replied. I scoffed. His hand reached out and found mine. He brought it to his lips. "I just wanted to apologize to him for my confusing behavior on Sunday."

I thought back to Sunday. Was it really only yesterday? It seemed like years had passed since yesterday evening.

Edward came over after dropping me off at my house. He had seemed all flustered. For a second, I thought that he was breaking with me. He told me that he wasn't.

"Then, what is it, Edward? You can tell me anything," I had told him.

"I know. And I want to tell you, but every time I try the words won't come out."

"Just start talking. The words will come out eventually," I suggested.

"I saw Emmett and Rosalie today and they are just so happy with each other and I couldn't help thinking about you. I feel like we've been through so much in such a short amount of time. I mean, you're my best friend and I share everything with you. You know nearly everything about me, everything but this. And I'm really worried about your reaction to this." He looked at me, his glorious green eyes more intense than I had ever seen them.

"Nothing will change the way I feel about you," I said.

"I really hope that is true," Edward replied. I kissed him.

"Just tell me."

"I love you."

My heart had stopped completely after he spoke the words. My mind struggled to for a clear thought. It was stuck on a loop. The only thing repeating over and over was "Edward Cullen loves me."

"I know that it's a lot to take in," he threw in nervously. "And I don't really expect a response. I just…I can't keep it in. I had to tell you. It might be too soon and it might seem ridiculous to—"

Edward had a habit of rambling when he got nervous. I put one hand over his mouth and the other on his heart. It was racing. I knew that mine was too.

Edward bumped me and brought me back from my thoughts. He looked at me. We were already in the parking lot. Jasper and Alice were leaning against his Audi. Rose and Emmett were making out against her BMW.

"What were you thinking about?" he whispered.

"About how much I love you," I replied. His answering smile was more brilliant than thousands of exploding supernovas.

"You knocked the air out of me yesterday when you told me you loved me. And now again. Are you trying to kill me, woman?" he teased.

"Please, I thought my heart was going to explode yesterday."

Edward laughed as he got out of the car. He walked around to my door, opening it for me. I kissed him.

"Is love really this morbid or do we just make it this morbid?" he asked.

"I have no idea. Alice?" Maybe a second opinion, or would that be third, would be helpful.

The little pixie twisted around in Jasper's arms. He never released her. "You two just make it morbid," she said. All the while, Jasper shook his head.

"I disagree. I think that you have to be just as crazy to fall in love as you are to die. They are very similar." Alice looked surprised. It was probably the first time I had ever seen her look surprised about anything. "Rose, back me up."

Rosalie pulled herself away from Emmett. He groaned loudly. Then, he turned to glare at Jasper.

"I think that you guys are all freaks. Love is not morbid," Emmett said.

"But it kind of is," Rosalie argued.

"It must be a Washington thing," Alice said.

"But Edward agrees with us and he's from Chicago," Jasper threw in. I laughed. They all turned to look at me.

"We are fighting over if love is morbid or not. That's ridiculous. We're young. We're in love. We should be kissing each other," I said, blushing a little. No one said anything for a second.

Then Emmett walked over to me. He wrapped his arms around me and winked. I knew what he was doing, but the others thought that he was trying to kiss me. Edward growled and Rosalie pulled his hair.

"It was a joke. Gah, Rosalie, my head hurts now," Emmett complained.

"It's what you get for trying to kiss my girlfriend," Edward said in his incredibly sexy, scary voice.

"It was a joke. Bella knew that," Em said, dragging me into it.

"It was a joke," I told Edward, who had started to calm down again.

I brought my lips to his. He was still pouting, but that was over soon enough. I pulled away from him just as he was starting to respond. Edward growled playfully.

"I love you, Edward Cullen."

"I love you too, Isabella Swan."

* * *

You love the ending? You hate the ending? You don't care about the ending because it's not really the end? Tell me so I know.

Also, here is a little teaser from the sequel:

"I would like to talk to you about something, Chief Swan," I said. He laughed at me.

"You've been dating my daughter for like nine months, Edward. I think that it is okay if you call me Charlie."

"Yes, sir. As you might know, Alice's and my birthday is coming up and I'm going to Chicago to take care of some legal issues--" he interrupted me here.

"Legal issues? You don't have a warrant out for your arrest or anything, do you?" he asked jokingly.

"I'm sure that you've already done a background check and know that I don't even have a parking ticket on my record." He nodded. "I'm going to Chicago. And I want Bella to come with me."


End file.
